Tomorrow in Bloomer: Wisconsin Author Open House

New! Library director certification info & resources

A new edition of the Certification Manual for Wisconsin Public Library Directors is now available.

New information has been added to the DLT website for library directors, which provides additional information and resources for certification and library administration. More information about the new manual was also recently published on the Division for Libraries and Technology’s “Libraries for Everyone” blog.

The certification process has not significantly changed, but there is one item of note: Librarians who are interested in completing self-directed, “Category C” continuing education activities will need to obtain pre-approval from their library system CE validators before completing the activity. This requirement will begin with CE completed after January 1, 2025, and will only apply to Category C activities. Any activities completed in 2024 will be handled as previously instructed by your public library system CE validators.

I will hold an informal, optional webinar at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 4, to review the new certification manual and answer your questions about certification. Please register for the Teams Webinar here. The presentation will also be recorded and shared at a later date.

For more information about the new Certification Manual or the certification process in general, visit the For Library Directors page on the DPI’s website or contact Teresa Schmidt, Public Library Administration Consultant, 608-266-7270.

Data Dashboard pilot – feedback needed

Beginning in September 2024, the WPLC, in partnership with DPI and WiLS, launched a Data Dashboard Pilot which will continue through December 31, 2024. Now that the pilot is at the halfway point, they are starting to solicit feedback from pilot participants about their experiences with and perception of a tool such as this dashboard.

Information is being gathered via a feedback survey that should take approximately 10 minutes to complete. Survey results will be used in the development of a report about the pilot and will help inform understanding of the value of data visualization tools such as this dashboard in the current landscape and to help plan for the future. We want to hear from you! The survey can be accessed at the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WPLCDashboardFeedback

If you have any questions about the pilot or the feedback survey, feel free to reach out to me at kim@wils.org.

Haven’t explored the dashboard yet? We’re encouraging you to give it a try.

All public library and system staff has barrier-free access to a statewide data dashboard of public library data from 2015 to 2023 as reported in the Annual Report to the DPI. The dashboard allpows you to visualize you library’s data as well as benchmark against other libraries and peer cohort averages. The dashboard is available on an unlisted WPLC website page. 

Training materials, including suggestions for data use, are provided as part of the pilot and can be accessed in the dashboard toolkit.

Building Equity-Based Summers

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) Library Services Team is looking for six libraries to participate in the 2025 Building Equity Based Summers (BEBS) Cohort. The BEBS initiative is funded and made possible in part through an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant.

Each participating library will be represented by a team of two staff members. Libraries are encouraged to have staff from across departments and can include Youth Services, Adult Services, Programming, Outreach, or Administrative staff. Read more about it and apply by November 22 if you are interested in participating.  Note:  There will be additional regional opportunities to engage with this material in the future.

Learn some stuff

Beanstack

Does your library use Beanstack?  Remember that the statewide subscription (and Beanstack’s generous extension) will expire at the end of April, 2025.  If you are interested in subscribing to Beanstack after April, you can contact WiLS for a quote (coop@wils.org).  They have negotiated consortium pricing for Beanstack, based on population-served.  Beanstack provides three levels of the product: Essential, Plus and Premium, which have increasing functionality and increased cost.  It’s also possible for libraries to subscribe for multiple years bringing the per-year price down. For more information, contact WiLS at coop@wils.org.

Section 508 Best Practices Webinar: Essential Strategies for Creating Accessible Social Media Content

Every day, millions of Americans use social media to engage with their favorite brands and influencers – including the federal government. Federal agencies have a crucial duty to engage the public effectively, share important information, and provide essential services to all Americans, including individuals with disabilities. Among other requirements, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act mandates that federal agencies ensure equal access to social media content, data, and platforms.

During this session on Tuesday, November 26 from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. (ET), participants will gain a range of valuable techniques for crafting inclusive social media posts, writing effective alternative (alt) text, checking color contrast, using hashtags and emojis thoughtfully, and ensuring that video content is properly captioned, among other important topics.

For more details or to register, visit the Great Lakes ADA Center’s webinar webpage. Sign Language and Real Time Captioning will be available. Questions for the presenters can be submitted during the registration process.

Events on the IFLS Calendar

Just for fun, from your editor: Pumpion Pie

My latest favorite website and show, Tasting History, featured this pie recently. “The modern, custard-style, pumpkin pie doesn’t find its way onto dinner tables until 1796 with Amelia Simmons’ recipe for pompkin pie, but that doesn’t mean people weren’t making equally delicious pies before that. This 17th century recipe is more like a fruit pie with slices of pumpkin, and it uses herbs instead of spices.” Go to the website for the Pumpion pie recipe.

Lastly, thanks to everyone that attended Kathy’s party

It was delightful. I’m sharing some pictures and videos. (Sorry that Lori’s lovely speech was cut short, the piped-in music was interfering.)