Do you have a tech tool that makes library work easier, a technology program or service that draws adults, teens or children into your doors, or apps you’ve found or created for library use? 

Please fill out this form to let us know what you’d like to share and show at Tech Days East this September!
 
All topics at the intersection of technology and libraries are welcome.

• Possibilities include, but are not limited to, gadgets, coding, apps, digitization, VR / AR, innovative tools, social media, privacy, makerspaces, Google services, STEM / STEAM, data visualization, e-resources, and teaching tech to patrons. 
• Presentations might also focus on serving specific audiences such as preschoolers, tweens, teens, older adults, and people with varied abilities.

Play Make Learn's many sponsors include the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Education Outreach and Partnerships, The Network, School Of Education, and Wisconsin Center for Education Research.

WebJunction has two up coming webinars:

Join the Global Family Research Project for a free Education Week webinar on April 25th at 1pm (1pm EST) and be part of the conversation about promising family engagement innovations.

​“Helping Children Succeed Through Family Engagement” builds from its recent paper for the Carnegie Corporation of New York and features three powerful examples of the high-leverage areas in which investments in family engagement can be a key driver in children’s school success and for achieving educational equity. 

If you are unable to attend the webinar and participate in the online chat to pose questions, share resources, and interact with the presenters and other webinar participants, the webinar will be available as a free webinar-on-demand as will a related resource center.

​April 18, 2019

Library’s Food for Fines to Support Local Food Pantry
 
Join the Brown County Library in its 2019 “Food for Fines” program.  This program allows library cardholders who donate food items to clear overdue fines from their library account and also help stock the shelves at Paul’s Pantry in Green Bay.
 
All Brown County Library cardholders can donate food items from April 29 through May 5 at any library location.

The Wisconsin Youth Services Development Institute provides professional development and networking for Wisconsin public library staff who serve babies, children, and teens in smaller public libraries. The Institute targets library staff who have no graduate degree in librarianship and/or work in rural/isolated library communities.

Questions? Contact
​Tessa Michaelson Schmidt
Public Library Youth and Inclusive Services Consultant
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
(608) 267-5077
tessa.schmidt@dpi.wi.gov

The Brown County Library announces Her Story, a four-part series that explores U.S. history from the female perspective on Tuesdays, April 16 and 23, and Thursdays, May 9 and 23, at the Brown County Central Library, 515 Pine St., downtown Green Bay. 

​All programs begin at 6:15 pm in the library’s auditorium.

TechSoup is hosting a webinar, 5 Things Every Nonprofit Needs to Consider About Its Website, on Tuesday, April 23, 2019.

This webinar will walk you through five things that every nonprofit should consider about its website and will give practical advice on how to make yours better. 

• How to think about your website
• How to craft a story through your website
• How to make sure your website is doing something for you
• How to craft a user path to engage more people
• How to manage, maintain, and expand your website

Reminder to NFLS member libraries: For assistance with your library's website (big or small), please contact Lori Baumgart. She is the new Marketing, Communications and CE Specialist at Nicolet Federated Library System and is ready to help!

Learn more about how the NFLS staff can assist your library at http://www.nfls.lib.wi.us/who-to-contact.html.

Mark your calendars! This year’s WPLC Annual Membership Meeting will be held during WAPL on May 1, 2019 at 1:00 pm at the Central Wisconsin Convention & Expo Center in Rothschild.
 
Here are just a few things that will be discussed:

• The Collection Development Workgroup’s Recommendations
• A preliminary budget review
• WPLC’s new Social Media Committee
• A potential Creator pilot
• OverDrive’s Lucky Day feature
• and more!

Every public library in Wisconsin is a member of the WPLC so we hope to see you there!

Invitation from Hannah Bunting, the Membership Coordinator at WLA:

NFLS is offering a 2019 $300 scholarship opportunity to its library members who wish to attend WLA's Leadership Development Institute Scheduled August 7-9, 2019 at the Madison Public Library.

Scholarship grant application forms are due May 15, 2019. 

Grant funds are to be used in the areas of Workforce Development, Lifelong Learning, and/or Technology. Collaboration with other libraries is encouraged, but not necessary.

This grant is a onetime only grant, available to NFLS member libraries.  Sustainability for any projects started with I&I grant funding should be considered and accounted for in the recipient library’s budget.
 
Upon completion of the grant project, recipients will be required to give a brief report to the NFLS Advisory Committee of Librarians and work with NFLS on a short publicity presentation. Grant application forms are due June 3, 2019.

​STEAM-tastic Programs
Friday, May 10, 9:30-3:30
CVTC Energy Education Center, Eau Claire
 
Learn about Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math Programs with Leah Hamilton, including:

• Finding partners and volunteers to help you
• How STEAM programs at libraries can address the technical skills and opportunity gap
• Practical program ideas to implement with all ages (children through adults)

 
**This program provides 5 contact hours (and 5 technology hours) for library directors needing hours for certification**

The Collaborative Summer Library Program’s website has a lot of information to offer library staff. What some may not realize is that CSLP has curated a list of resources related to inclusion.

Visit www.cslpreads.org, hover over the “Inclusion Resources” tab, and you will find a plethora of different topics.

Here are some upcoming WiLS Events for April, May, and June - including Peer Council and the 2019 Ideas to Action Fund!  Learn more about WiLS at https://www.wils.org/about-wils/.

Through the Wisconsin Author Project, made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, libraries are helping local authors get the recognition they deserve for writing great books. Wisconsin residents who are authors of self-published adult or young adult fiction will be invited to submit their work. One winner will receive $1,000, inclusion in a full page spread in Library Journal, be honored at PLA 2020 in Nashville, and be recognized at the awards ceremony of the Wisconsin Library Association Annual Conference in October. 

Submissions are due by May 31st. The submitted books will be reviewed by staff at Library Journal and by members of the Wisconsin library community. The winner will be announced this fall at the Annual Conference of the Wisconsin Library Association.
​
For marketing materials and more information, or to submit a book for consideration, visit the Wisconsin Author Project website.