Library News: IFLS libraries win accessibility grants for small and rural libraries

FIVE libraries from IFLS won this award: Balsam Lake, Stanley, Hammond, Rusk County and Osceola. Well done!

As part of the grant participants will host a conversation with the community they are aiming to serve and then change their library’s budget/proposal based on those conversations. Watch for details in the next News from IFLS.

Information needed! Libraries Win websites and passport program participants please respond

Website managers survey from Erica

ed. note: This went out as an email. Over half of the IFLS libraries with websites have completed it – thank you very much! Let’s get that to 100%, please.

Do you manage your library’s website and is your website hosted with Libraries Win? The new website services consultant, Erica Brewster, is requesting all libraries complete a brief (5-10 minute) survey to make sure contact information for local web managers is up-to-date and to assess what support libraries might need for their sites.

Click here to take the survey: https://forms.gle/TwLTc8wnJmsNZaSp8 

Explore MORE mid-program inventory

We’re about halfway through! Please fill out this form so Reb can redistribute passports as needed.

Are you a staff person participating in the Explore MORE program?

I’d like to get an idea of how many people are participating. Please email Reb at kilde@ifls.lib.wi.us. Thanks!

Want $5,000?

Would you like up to $5000 to support your brilliant project idea, but don’t have time for the rigorous application and reporting processes of most grants? Then the WiLS Ideas to Action Fund could be for you.  The Fund encourages partnerships and collaborations among WiLS members and with community partners, supports innovative and exploratory new work, and seeds the development of processes, methods, or resources that can be used by other WiLS members. Read more about eligibility, past projects funded, and how to apply, but do it before June 5th!  Questions? Contact  information@wils.org.

Program Resources

Get a jump on eclipse excitement

Did you know that we are due for two solar eclipses in the next year?  Saturday, October 14, 2023 is an Annual Eclipse and Monday, April 8, 2024 is a total eclipse!  If you were working in libraries during the last total eclipse you might remember a lot of excitement and confusion about eclipse-viewing glasses.  You can get a jump on eclipse information (including what it will look like in your community), ordering free glasses, finding resources, activity ideas, printables, and continuing education offerings by checking out the Solar Eclipse Activities for Libraries website from STARNET (Science and Technology Resources for Public Libraries) is a division of NASA set up specifically for working with public libraries.

Update to last week’s Digest

Rita Magno told me that Baldwin just purchased 20 passes for the Check Out Wisconsin State Parks program.

LearningExpress Library’s New and Updated Content

Check out all the new and updated titles in LearningExpress Library’s 8 learning centers through BadgerLink.

New on the IFLS Website

The Get In Touch page has been updated. You can now navigate the IFLS staff list by first letter of last name. The page also now includes a (hopefully) comprehensive list of staff lists, newsletters and blogs. This page is now the permanent home of the IFLS Advisory Council link and the Weekly Digest blog.

Coming up on the IFLS calendar

The budget hearing approaches

This year’s MORE budget hearing will be held on Thursday, June 15, with either in-person or online attendance options. This is a chance for MORE-member library staff and directors to weigh in on the 2024 MORE budget before MORE Executive Committee creates a recommended budget. Watch for more information in TWAM from Lori Roholt.