Below are the headlines from the March 26, 2021 - 📢 Nic News Weekly:

• Indigenous Representation Newsletter
• Nominate someone exceptional for the WI Library Hall of Fame!
• Participate in WiLS’ Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (EDI) Survey
• Spring Webinar Series
• 2021 ARSL Conference
• Save the Date to Apply for WiLS Ideas to Action Funds
• Humanities Collections and Reference Resources Grants (HCRR)

​​Here are few things to keep in mind:

• Starting the evening of March 30, 2021 the claimant portal will look a little different. See the Coming Soon- New Portal Features site for a sneak peek, including a short video, of what this will look like.

Below are the headlines from the March 19, 2021 - 📢 Nic News Weekly:

• The Cooperative Children's Book Center Releases CCBC Choices
• Libraries Transform Newsletter
• Data that Counts: Intro to Census Data for Public Libraries
• Talk Story: Sharing Stories, Sharing Culture Grant

Sister Bay/Liberty Grove Library is among 141 Wisconsin libraries and school districts who will receive nearly $3 million in 2021 TEchnology for Educational ACHievement (TEACH) Information Technology Infrastructure grants. 

“It is critically important that Wisconsinites across the state have access to high-quality educational resources,” said Department of Administration (DOA) Secretary Joel Brennan. “Many rural libraries and schools often do not have the funds available to invest in their technology infrastructures to ensure that accessibility and the opportunities that come with it.”

Sister Bay/Liberty Grove Library will receive $210 in TEACH funds. “The Sister Bay/Liberty Grove branch has a beautiful outdoor garden space where many activities take place during good weather,” said branch manager Christina Johnson. “The new access point provided with TEACH grant will make it possible to have good quality internet which is so important to daily life. We’ve seen a big demand increase over the past few years, and this will expand the WiFi coverage into the garden, bringing more connectivity to our community which is greatly needed.”
​

Below are the headlines from the March 12, 2021 - 📢 Nic News Weekly:

• CCBC Choices 2021: Two Tools to Choose New Books for Children & Teens
• Need to Know Legislative Newsletter for Library Leaders
• Participate in WiLS’ Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Survey
• Managing Digital Content Over Time: An Introduction to Digital Preservation - Scholarships Available
• ABC Circus with Sharon Page and the Circus Dogs

Here are two things to help you choose new books to add to your library’s youth & teen collection this spring.

The Workshops
The annual CCBC Choices workshops will be webinars:

• Great New Books for Birth - Grade 5
  9-10am on Thursday, March 11
  Register here
• Great New Books for Older Children and Teens
  9-10am on Thursday, March 25
  Register here

Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) librarians Merri Lindgren and Megan Schliesman will talk about great books for youth that were published last year, highlighting selected titles from the CCBC Choices 2021 booklet.

Both webinars will be recorded if you’re not available to attend them live. They can be found at ccbc.education.wisc.edu/education-outreach/online-presentation-archive/.

The Booklet
CCBC Choices 2021, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center’s annual list recommending 257 books for children and teens published in 2020, is available in two formats:

• PDF – you may download and print it, so you can jot notes while watching the webinars
• CCBC-Recommended Book Search database – search by keyword, subject, title & author, and filter by age, diversity subject, content type, and format.

The annual CCBC Choices list was for decades published as a fully-annotated booklet, though the paper version is not available this year due to challenges brought by the pandemic (details here.) Staff are hoping and planning for a return to a physical booklet next year.

The Cooperative Children's Book Center, located on the UW-Madison campus, serves as a children's literature library for adults, a book examination center, and a research library.

Below are the headlines from the March 5, 2021 - 📢 Nic News Weekly:

• WLA Member Spotlight on Jen Thiele, Marinette County Library System Director
• Introducing the Library Services Team
• 6 Dr. Seuss Books Won't Be Published For Racist Images
• Gillett Public Library is Hiring
• Beanstack's New Admin Dashboard
• Health Information Online: Finding Information You Can Trust--Train the Trainer (see newsletter for the multiple registration links)
• WAPL Annual Conference is Going Virtual
• Webinars in March

The Gillett Public Library is looking to fill two positions:

• Library Director
• Library Assistant (part time)

Get all the details on our Library Employment Opportunities page.

The statement below is taken from www.seussville.com/statement-from-dr-seuss-enterprises/.

"Today, on Dr. Seuss’s Birthday, Dr. Seuss Enterprises celebrates reading and also our mission of supporting all children and families with messages of hope, inspiration, inclusion, and friendship.

We are committed to action.  To that end, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, working with a panel of experts, including educators, reviewed our catalog of titles and made the decision last year to cease publication and licensing of the following titles:  And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, If I Ran the Zoo, McElligot’s Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cat’s Quizzer.  These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.
​
Ceasing sales of these books is only part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises’s catalog represents and supports all communities and families."