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.”
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Below are the headlines from the January 29, 2021 - 📢 Nic News Weekly:

• Take ALA's Survey For a Chance to Win National Library Week Swag
• TeachingBooks' New Book & Author Chrome Extension
• Beanstack: New 2021 Challenges
• LAWDS Training on Use of Labor Market Indicator Tools
• ALA's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Training Calendar

Please check the NEWI list of free webinars to find online continuing education opportunities you can attend from where you are, whether in the library or working from home. Most sessions are 60 minutes long, and are provided – at no charge to you – by associations, agencies, companies, and library systems. Here’s a spotlight on topics that may be of most interest to you.

For webinars on managing stress & building resilience, click title to register:

• Work and Our Well-Being - 11am on Tuesday, Nov 10
• Self-Care During a Pandemic, Part 2 - 1:30pm on Monday, Nov 16
• Attend to Your Well-Being: How You Can Avoid Mental, Physical and Emotional Exhaustion - 5pm on Wednesday, Nov 18

For webinars on equity, diversity and inclusion, click title to register:

• Diverse Books with TeachingBooks Resources - 2pm on Monday, Nov 2
• Unconscious Bias is Impacting Your Organizational Performance, Whether you Know it or Not- 2pm on Thursday, Nov 5
• Facing Bias - 9am on Tuesday, Nov 10
• Beyond Diversity and Inclusion: Equity, Belonging, and Allyship - 2pm on Thursday, Nov 12
• A Discussion of Contemporary Native Children's Literature with Authors Traci Sorell and Carla Messinger - 3pm on Thursday, Nov 12
• Diversity on Library Boards - 6pm on Thursday, Nov 12
• Serving All Adults: Dementia Friendly Business Training & Customer Service in the Library - 10am on Tuesday, Nov 17
• Support Adults with Autism by Creating a Welcoming Physical Space at the Library - 10am on Wednesday, Nov 18

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Trustees Supporting Library Directors, a 4-part series from IFLS Library System; you may register for the whole series, or click title below to register for individual sessions:

1. Understanding Your Role - Noon on Thursday, Nov 5
2. Understanding the Library - Noon on Thursday, Nov 12
3. Connecting the Library and Community - Noon on Thursday, Nov 19
4. Bringing It All Together, a Conversation - 7pm on Thursday, Dec 3

​Below are the headlines from the September 4, 2020 - 📢 Nic News Weekly:

• September Webinars Listing from NEWI
• September 17 Drive Thru Job Fair Locations
• New CCBC Website with Enhanced Search Features
• Nominations Now Open for IMLS National Medal for Museum and Library Service
• Collaborative Summer Library Program Newsletter
• How to Ignore Email Conversations in Microsoft Outlook
• Wildlife In Need Center: Connecting Communities through Wildlife Education
• Circulation Assistant - Egg Harbor Library

Ever get emails followed by "replies to all" that do not pertain to you? This short video will show you how to ignore specific email chains in Microsoft Outlook - keeping your email inbox just a little cleaner.

Below are the headlines from the August 21, 2020 - 📢 Nic News Weekly:

• 2021 County Tax Exemption Calculation Guide Available
• "Lead the Way" Conference Scholarship
• Getting Hit On By Customers: Women (and Men) Share Their Tools for Stopping Unwanted Attention
• Register for Tech Days 2020
• Library Journal’s Summit: What’s Next? Libraries Adapt to the New Abnormal
• Attention NFLS Directors: We're Trying Something New

​Registration is now open for Tech Days 2020, a series of four webinars over two days, September 23 – 24.

The schedule of sessions is as follows:

Wednesday, Sep. 23

• 10:00 - 11:30am – Technology Training for Non-Techies.
• 1:00 - 2:30pm – Mind the Gap: How to Navigate Your Way Across the Digital Divide (And Why That Isn't As Easy As It Sounds).

Thursday, Sep. 24

• 10:00 - 11:30am – Productivity and Technology.
• 1:00 - 2:30pm – Change is a Constant: Technology, Service, and Constant Change.

Below are the headlines from the 7/24/2020 - 📢 Nic News Weekly:

• Be Ready to Help Patrons Prepare for the InfoSoup Update
• Closed Captioning Library YouTube Videos
• COVID-19 Recovery Resources Guide
• Upper Midwest Digital Collections Conference Call for Proposals
• Rural Libraries Invited to Apply for Digital Access Grants
• Register for September 23-24 Tech Days
• The Public Library's Role in Elections: Voter Education in a Post-Truth Era
• Lead the Way: Libraries at the Heart of Community Engagement
• PLA 2020 Virtual Conference: Available On-Demand

During the COVID-19 stay home orders, Whatcom County Library System kept staff whose library work couldn't be done from home busy by having them work from home to close caption the many videos on the WCLS YouTube channel. Getting this closed captioning done to make the videos accessible to more patrons had been on the system's to-do list for a long time, but they hadn't had the staffing to take up the project. It was a great way to keep staff busy from home during the closure, and they are proud of the fact that (almost) all of the videos they are creating about library services are now accessible to those who are hard of hearing. (They are still working through some of the backlog.)

If you still have library staff who can't return to their normal schedules 100%, this might be a good project for them to take up. 

Below are the headlines from the 7/17/2020 - 📢 Nic News Weekly:

• Register now for Trustee Training Week 2020
• Three Things You Can Do to Promote Anti-Racism Efforts In Your Library
• COVID-19-related Cybercrime: Microsoft Takes Legal Action
• Marketing Materials for the "New" InfoSoup Coming this August
• Transition Planned In-Person Adult Programs to a Virtual Environment
• Antiracist Collection Development & Programming for Middle School & High School Youth (InfoPeople Webinar)

According to a recent blog post by Microsoft, cybercriminals have been "taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic in an attempt to defraud customers in 62 countries around the world. Our civil case has resulted in a court order allowing Microsoft to seize control of key domains in the criminals’ infrastructure so that it can no longer be used to execute cyberattacks."

Because this issue directly affects our librarians, we thought it important to relay the following information regarding these phishing attacks. Read more below for a highlight that has been pulled from the article...

Below are the headlines from the 7/10/2020 - 📢 Nic News Weekly:

• Annual Report Summer Programming Update
• Opportunity Out of Adversity: Digital Access in Rural and Small Libraries
• Professional Development: Digital Bytes in the Time of COVID-19
• Tips for Leading Productive Meetings with Microsoft Teams
• Resilient Communities: Libraries Respond to Climate Change
• Mini-grant Opportunity: Support Health Insurance Enrollment in Your Community
• IMLS Opens Library Grants for National Leadership, Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Programs
• Simple Animations in Canva for Social Media Posts

This newsletter contains the following headlines:

• Libraries and COVID-19: Town Hall Recap, Evolving Resources, New Research Project
• Community Engagement Award.  OCLC is accepting nominations through May 31 for the new OCLC Community Engagement Award, recognizing libraries who have created impact and extended the library's reach through a recent project. Read more in the recent Next blog post and nominate your library for one of three $5000 awards.
• More Buy-In = Better Marketing.  In a guest post by Kathy Dempsey, read about the 2020 PLA panel session, The Marketing Value Proposition: Why Buy-In Makes All the Difference. Panelists shared strategies for helping library staff to understand the value of marketing and to support that work, even when it's not part of their jobs.
• Library Storytimes during COVID-19 – a Different Kind of Connection.  In part one of a two-part series, Saroj Ghoting, early childhood literacy consultant, looks at ways to adjust storytimes for virtual engagement. While virtual interactions are not the same as meeting face-to-face, this is a time to explore what works well in an online environment, what we can capitalize on, and what we can learn for the future.
• Upcoming Webinars
  • ​MAY 27: Online Reference and the Open Web: Boosting Strategies and Sources
  • JUNE 11: Libraries Prepare to Answer Civil Legal Questions in Times of Crisis
  • JUNE 16: Getting Started with Virtual Storytimes
• Additional Online Learning​

Libraries Lead with Digital Skills Expands Economic Opportunity
Apply now for $2,000 toward virtual workforce programming

The COVID-19 crisis has forced libraries to pivot into virtual services in lieu of face-to-face programming. Recognizing the critical role libraries play in supporting America’s workforce when millions file for unemployment, Libraries Lead with Digital Skills has expanded its initiative to offer public libraries $2,000 to provide virtual programming, outreach, and education to address the digital skills gaps of job seekers, entrepreneurs, and small businesses.
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Who should apply? Public libraries that want to start virtual digital skills programs or those that are interested in testing out new resources.

> > Click here to learn more in PLA's announcement.

Click here to view the webinar recording for WiscNet Community Conversation: Connecting People & Strategies in Strange Times.

Posted 4/28/2020
It's not too late to join WiscNet for a special WiscNet Community Conversation: Connecting People & Strategies in Strange Times next week, May 5 from 10:00-11:00am.

Normally WiscNet Community Conversations bring WiscNet to you as they travel around the state to different areas and help WiscNet members connect to one another locally. Obviously they can't do that right now, so they're Zooming at you instead.

Partaking in a panel discussion will be a few of your wonderful WiscNet Board Members: 

• Brian Casey from Stevens Point Area Public School District
• Tom Lange from Chippewa Valley Technical College
• Sarah Lipke from CESA 10
• August Neverman from Brown County

They'll discuss what’s working for them right now, and what’s not; how they’re connecting with their communities and improvements to be made; and how they’re reaching out to students, staff, and/or citizens that are most disengaged/vulnerable. We’ll also pick their brains about the future: how will they take what they’re learning now and apply it when this happens again?

There will also be time for you to share your own situations, experiences, expertise, and lessons already learned as well as ask questions of each other.

RSVP on WiscNet's website to join.

Learn more at https://mailchi.mp/wiscnet/well-be-online-next-tuesday-may-5-for-a-special-wiscnet-community-conversation?e=d9587b45b8

Originally scheduled as part of our in-person Teen/Tween Programming Workshop, Katherine Schoofs is taking this program virtual:
 
Going the Distance: Library Programs for Teens and Tweens
Friday, May 8 from 10 - 11 a.m. Central Time
 
Providing programs for teens & tweens during 2020 requires ingenuity, creativity, flexibility, and good-natured courage. You are invited to attend this webinar to learn about innovative programs that allow teens and tweens to safely connect with the library & each other during unheralded times. Get ready to rethink what you thought you knew about programming and prepare to absorb and share inspiration with your colleagues. Katherine Schoofs of the Aram Public Library in Delavan will guide us through uncharted waters and inspire us to think about traditional programming in very UNtraditional ways to support regularly scheduled programs and the upcoming 2020 Summer Library Program. So buckle up, buttercup -- we’re about to have a boatload of fun.   
 
Register here!

Please see below the call for program proposals from the WLA Conference Program Committee:

DPI’s Division for Libraries and Technology is proud to bring Beck Tench to Wisconsin for a one-hour webinar on how to take care of ourselves in this time of COVID-19.
 
Webinar: Being Still in an Emergency
Tuesday, May 5, 1-2 PM
No registration required.
Simply login: Join Microsoft Teams Meeting (Updated 5/4/2020)
Or call in: 608-620-9781(Toll);  Conference ID: 710 600 689# 

The Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) shared several upcoming and "on demand" virtual continuing education opportunities, some free and some at reduced cost. 

FREE Webinar Recordings (available any time) include:

A June Library 2.0 mini-conference that is being co-organized by TechSoup. It is "Small, Rural, and Independent Libraries," which will be held online (and for free) on Wednesday, June 17, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Central time. Register for this free event here.

This mini-conference will focus on innovation and innovative thinking in rural, independent, tribal, and other small libraries, as well as the many unique challenges that libraries face in these strange times. A diverse array of keynote panelists and curated presenters will cover topics that will include:

• Innovations to provide Internet access and training to rural patrons
• New ways that small libraries can offer services that the big urban libraries offer
• Taking community partnerships to the next level
• How workers from small and rural libraries can easily connect with each other to get ideas and keep innovating
• Novel ways to fund special programs
• Unique Internet of Things offers that are tailored to specific communities
• Safety, security, and ways to deal with emergencies when the sheriff's department is far away

This event is being organized in partnership with Jim Lynch from TechSoup for Libraries, Kate Laughlin from the Association for Rural and Small Libraries, and The School of Information at San José State University, the founding conference sponsor.