CORRECTION: there will be no budget vote at the next MORE Directors Council meeting. The calendar entry has also been corrected.

End of year tech purchasing

The cutoff date for computer purchases for this year is December 1. Brad sent out a reminder with costs and other details. Contact Brad with questions. jensen@ifls.lib.wi.us

Follow the money

Paid fellowship opportunity

Are you an educator or librarian with experience teaching STEM/STEAM? The Department of Public Instruction is looking to hire 15 STEAM fellows who will engage in professional development, collaborate with regional and statewide partners, and implement STEAM-related initiatives in their schools and communities. Fellows will participate in collaborative learning experiences, curate educational resources, develop a plan to locally engage underrepresented students in STEAM education, and share their learning with others. The fellowship aims to foster innovation, equity, and excellence in STEAM education across Wisconsin.  

 Fellowships highlights:

• · $2,000 stipend
• · Grow your own practice with free professional learning
• · Support others to grow their practice by sharing what you’ve learned!

To learn more and apply (Applications due November 6): DPI STEAM Education Fellows Application  Additional questions?  Contact Amanda Albrecht (Digital Learning Consultant at DPI) at: amanda.albrecht@dpi.wi.gov

NEA Big Read grant application open

Deadlines: Submit your Intent to Apply by January 23, 2025; final applications due by January 30, 2025

The National Endowment for the Arts Big Read is a program that awards grants ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 to support community reading programs designed around a single NEA Big Read book.

An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in partnership with Arts Midwest, the NEA Big Read broadens our understanding of ourselves and our neighbors through the power of a shared reading experience. The goal of this program is to inspire meaningful conversations, celebrate local creativity, elevate a wide variety of voices and perspectives, and build stronger connections in each community.

In addition to funding for purchasing the books themselves, each grant recipient is provided with resources to help them succeed. That includes outreach materials to gather people from all walks of life and training on how to work with local partners, how to develop public relations strategies, and how to lead meaningful book discussions.

NEA Big Read programs vary and can be as short as a week or as long as several months, held between September 2025 and June 2026. Programming for the 2025-2026 grant cycle will center around the theme OUR NATURE: How Our Physical Environment Can Lead Us to Seek Hope, Courage, and Connection. The 22 books that applicants can choose from all explore our relationship with the physical environment. Applicants will facilitate book discussions, writing workshops, and creative programming activities that explore this theme and celebrate the unique aspects of their communities.

U.S. libraries, nonprofit arts organizations, universities, community service organizations, museums, school districts, and tribal governments are all encouraged to apply. Applicants will need to have a UEI number on file by April 2025. Apply for a free UEI at sam.gov.

For more information about the NEA Big Read application visit the page: https://artsmidwest.org/get-support/nea-big-read.

Get an intern!

Summer 2025 AHEC intern applications open tomorrow! If you are interested in applying for an intern through the Community Health Internship Program (CHIP), the applications open November 1.

Wisconsin Area Health Education Centers administer this program.  They recruit college/university students, find the best fit for student and host organizations, take care of the human resources aspect of hosting and intern, and provide weekly educational seminars for the interns.  Host sites (potentially your library) designate a mentor to provide technical support, project guidance, and connections.  The ability to host a student depends on the availability of a student who is interested in locating in your community so your mileage may vary, but libraries in some locations have had great success with this program.

For inspiration, click here to view a list of previous projects.

Three regional Area Health Education Centers serve the IFLS region.  For more information about how to contact the program manager for your area and learn more, check out:

• North Central (Chippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire, Pepin and Pierce counties)
• Northern Highland (Price county)
• Northwest (Barron, Polk, Rusk, and St. Croix counties)

Building Equity Based Summers (BEBS) Cohort starting in January 2025

Wisconsin is participating in the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant-funded national initiative Building Equity Based Summers (BEBS).  BEBS provides learning and reflection sessions to library staff because “Summer services only serve the community if we serve the WHOLE community.”

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) Library Services Team is looking for six public libraries to participate in the 2025 BEBS Cohort. 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.

BEBS participants will work with co-facilitators Jeni Schomber, DPI Public Library Consultant, and Kelly Wochinske, Milwaukee Public Library, and with each other to consider summer programs and services  through an equity-based lens.

The application to participate will open on Monday November 11th. This is expected to be a competitive process and not all applications will be selected. More details coming soon but you can start thinking about whether this is a good fit for your library now!

Educational opportunities coming up

Stacey is organizing a group for this webinar

The cost is $25 if you join Stacey’s group purchase. If you’re interested, contact her at director@bloomerpubliclibrary.org before November 5.

To Ensure Your Library’s Health, Give Your Communications a Full Check-Up on November 7, 2024; 2:00-3:00 PM Eastern

It’s normal for library staffers to create their fliers, bookmarks, posters, web pages, and brochures as they’re needed. However, doing that work piecemeal means your organization probably never looks at its communication as a whole. So it’s easy to end up with print collateral and signs that have variations in branding, colors, fonts, and tone.

Since your external communications affect the health of your library—usage levels, reputation, brand, even funding—it’s important to give them a complete check-up every once in a while. This webinar will lay out the steps for performing a simple “external communications audit” so you can see the big picture. Marketing communications maven Kathy Dempsey will share tips on staying consistent within your brand and your external “voice” to make sure your library looks professional to the outside world. All registrants will get a detailed checklist of which communications to audit and exactly what to check for on each piece.

Christinna recommends this one

Says Christinna: If you are interested in data and how you can use that to enhance, leverage, and/or improve your library for and with your communities, please consider attending the Civic Switchboard Institute or pass along to any of team members that you think might have an interest.

I attended in August and if you have any questions about my experience, please feel free to reach out and I will be happy to discuss. 

Over 2024 and through the support of the IMLS, the Civic Switchboard project team has been hosting regional Institutes on civic data work in libraries. We have one more 2-day Institute — an online Institute — on November 7 and November 14.

Whether you are already doing work with civic data or are interested in beginning to discover the ways libraries could participate, this Institute is for you. Join us!

2-day Institute dates and links:

• November 7, 2024, 12pm – 4pm Eastern;
• November 14, 2024, 12pm – 3pm Eastern
• Institute application
• Institute agenda

By participating in an Institute, you can:

• Connect with other library workers and expand a community of practice focused on libraries and civic data;
• Explore your civic data ecosystem and potential roles for your library;
• Connect with exemplars of library civic data intermediary work by engaging with the work of host sites;
• Discover critical dimensions of data work, including power, social justice, and responsible data practices to mitigate harms.

Please reach out to the Civic Switchboard team (civic-switchboard@pitt.edu) if you have any questions or would like to learn more!

Registration is OPEN for twelfth annual Lake Superior Libraries Unsymposium!

The Unsymposium is free and open to everyone.

• When: Friday, January 10, 2025, 1 – 4:30 pm
• Where: Superior Public Library, 1530 Tower Avenue, Superior, WI 54880
• Registration: Now open!
• Cost: Only your time!

Our twelfth annual Lake Superior Libraries Unsymposium will be held on Friday, January 10, 2025, from 1-4:30 p.m. at Superior Public Library in Superior, Wisconsin! We hope you’ll join us for an afternoon of conversation, collaboration, and connection!

What’s an “unsymposium,” you ask? At our Mid-winter Unsymposium, we turn the idea of a “conference” upside down! Rather than inviting speakers to talk about predetermined topics related to a specific theme, unsymposium attendees brainstorm discussion topics and then vote for their favorites!

You can suggest discussion topics when you register, or you can suggest them at the event. After collecting all of the suggested topics, everybody in attendance votes for their favorites, and then we break into small groups for discussion. At our Unconference, you determine the conversation!

Would you like to meet up with Unsymposium attendees for lunch before the Unsymposium? We’ll meet at Julie’s Family Restaurant (403 Belknap Street in Superior) at 11:30 a.m. for networking, camaraderie, and a delicious lunch before heading over to the library for the Unsymposium. We’d love to see you there!

We hope you’ll join us at the Unsymposium on Friday, January 10, 2025, for invigorating discussion with other library folks. Be prepared to take that enthusiasm back to your library! Registration is open now!

Sign up for our mailing list, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, or visit our website for updates.

On the IFLS Calendar

If you haven’t yet, RSVP for Kathy’s party. https://forms.office.com/r/WqAW7qTT3F

 

Katelyn’s puppy is convinced that he NEVER gets treats, but don’t you believe it! Happy Halloween.