Lives Worth Living
By ann | October 25, 2011
Press Release
LIVES WORTH LIVING Premieres on the PBS Series INDEPENDENT LENS
Thursday, October 27 at 10 PM during
National Disability Employment Awareness Month
Powerful Documentary Chronicles the History of America’s Disability Rights Movement
While there are over 54 million Americans living with disabilities, Lives Worth Living is the first television history of their decades-long struggle for equal rights. Produced and directed by Eric Neudel, Lives Worth Living is a window into a world inhabited by people with an unwavering determination to live their lives like everyone else, and a look back into a past when millions of Americans lived without access to schools, employment, apartment buildings, and public transportation – a way of life unimaginable today. Lives Worth Living premieres on the Emmy® Award-winning PBS series Independent Lens, on Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 10 PM (check local listings) to coincide with National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
Lives Worth Living traces the development of the disability rights movement from its beginning following World War II, when thousands of disabled veterans returned home, through its burgeoning in the 1960s and 1970s, when it began to adopt the tactics of other social movements. Told through interviews with the movement’s pioneers, legislators, and others, Lives Worth Living explores how Americans with a wide variety of disabilities — including blind, deaf, physical, intellectual and psychiatric — banded together to change public perception and policy. Through demonstrations and legislative battles, the disability rights community finally secured equal civil rights with the 1990 passage and signing into law of the Americans with Disabilities Act, one of the most transformative pieces of civil rights legislation in American history.
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2012 National Medal for Museum and Library Service
By Donna DiMichele | October 24, 2011
Which library or museum do you believe has exemplified extraordinary civic, educational, economic, environmental, and social contributions? Has its impact on the community been a model of civic engagement? Did it become the centerpiece of economic and/or environmental change in its community? Does its educational impact make it the place of choice for lifelong learning? If you’re now thinking “my library/museum is outstanding” and I wish everyone know it, then read further!
Supporters of outstanding museums and libraries are encouraged to nominate these institutions for the National Medal for Museum and Library Service [by December 15, 2011], the nation’s highest honor for exemplary museum and library community service. The National Medal honors museums and libraries that make extraordinary civic, educational, economic, environmental, and social contributions. Medal winners receive a $10,000 award and are honored at a National Medal award ceremony held in Washington, D.C.
2011 winners of the National Medal
Any individual, including a museum or library employee, may nominate a museum or library in the United States and its territories for the National Medal. Public or private nonprofit museums, including zoos, art, history, science and technology, children’s, and natural history museums; historic houses, nature centers, and botanical gardens; and all types of nonprofit libraries, including public, school, academic, research, and archival, are eligible to receive this honor.
A complete application will include a five-page, single-spaced narrative; financial statements for the past two fiscal years; and up to three letters of support. These nominating materials are reviewed by members of the National Museum and Library Services Board, an appointed presidential policy advisory board of IMLS. Based on their recommendations, the IMLS Director selects the final winners. More information and the nomination form
Nominations must be postmarked by December 15, 2011 to this address (no faxes or emails will be accepted):
The National Medal for Museum and Library Service
Office of the Director
Institute of Museum and Library Services
1800 M St. NW 9th Floor
Washington, DC 20036-5802
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National Information Literacy Month
By Donna DiMichele | October 21, 2011
It’s October 21 and I’m only just now learning that October is National Information Literacy month. If nothing else, I need to work on the timeliness of my information posting! that being said, there are still ten days left to celebrate National Information Literacy Month. Read about past and ongoing events and what you can still do on the National Forum for Information Literacy website.
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Grants to Support National Library Week
By Donna DiMichele | October 17, 2011
U.S. libraries of all types encouraged to apply for $3,000 to support National Library Week activities!
CHICAGO – Your library has something for everyone. This National Library Week, celebrate the ways your library provides a place where everyone belongs.
The deadline for 2012 grant has been extended to Friday, Oct. 28, 2011. U.S. libraries of all types are invited to apply for a $3,000 grant that will be awarded to the best public awareness campaign promoting the theme You belong @ your library during National Library Week (April 8-14, 2012). Visit the grant website for all you need to know.
- All proposals must use the You belong @ your library theme, which incorporates the Campaign for America’s Libraries’ @ your library brand, on promotional and publicity material supporting National Library Week activities. Guidelines for using the brand are available on the campaign website under the “Public Awareness Tools” section.
- The grant is sponsored by Scholastic Library Publishing, a division of Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, and is administered by the Public Awareness Committee of the American Library Association (ALA).
- Information is also available from the ALA Public Information Office. Telephone: (800) 545-2433, ext. 2148. E-mail: mmcfarlane@ala.org.
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A change for RI School Librarians
By Donna DiMichele | October 17, 2011
[October 13] The Rhode Island Educational Media Association (RIEMA) announced that after a long and thoughtful process has changed it’s name to School Librarians of Rhode Island. The new website will address is http://www.slofri.org/ and is currently being updated.
The association’s name change appears to be part of a national trend in the school library sector.
The association’s 2012 Annual Conference is scheduled for Thursday, March 29, 2012, 7:30 A.M. – 3:30 P.M. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Warwick, RI. Keith Curry Lance will be the keynote speaker.
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Smart Money Week @ your Library
By Donna DiMichele | October 5, 2011
Even in the best of times, everyone can learn something new about being smart with money! And libraries are natural places to facilitate lifelong learning in this arena!
ALA and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago are partnering again for Money Smart Week @ your library, which will be held April 21-28, 2012.
Libraries provide financial literacy programming on all kinds of topics and for all ages and demographics during the week. ALA created a Money Smart Week @ your library page that includes resources, programming ideas, etc. for libraries. Explore ideas for programs in your library on the website. In 2011 libraries in 30 states participated in Smart Money Week, and the 2012 goal is to get libraries in all 50 states. Make sure Rhode Island is on the map for Smart Money Week!
To support library involvement, ALA will be hosting a Smart Money Week webinar for libraries on Wednesday, October 26 (2:00-3:00 Central). Register for the webinar
RI librarians – share your ideas for promoting Smart Money Week with RILA. ALA points out that statewide coalitions are up and running in many states and are starting up in others. Partners in some states include the State Treasurer, Attorney General, Dept of Education, along with non-governmental organizations and financial companies.
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Volunteers in the library
By karen | October 5, 2011
Volunteers can play an important role in your library. This month, WebJunction focuses on volunteers in the library:
Volunteers in the library are more than just unpaid helpers who fill in gaps and extend the ability to deliver services. They are the living connectors that help build the commitment of the community to the library through their dedicated efforts. However, as every volunteer manager knows, getting the most of your library volunteers is a complex and energetic endeavor. While many best practices never go out of date, there are some new angles to recruiting and utilizing volunteers. WebJunction offers two webinars this month on attracting skilled volunteers, as well as a compilation of current resources for recruiting, managing and training volunteers.
Check out the resources on WebJunction – you don’t have to be a member to take advantage of all the resources available there, though you do need to be a member to attend webinars. If you were a member of WebJunction Rhode Island, you’re still a member of WebJunction.
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Training for AskRI databases
By karen | September 29, 2011
This fall, there will be online training available for several AskRI products including EBSCO databases and ReferenceUSA. Check out all the options for learning about AskRI databases and electronic resources.
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Digital Public Library of America
By chaichin | September 28, 2011
Ever wonder if something similar to the scale and magnitude of European Library may exist in our world? If you have been paying attention to the progress of the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) project, you may declare with reservation that this can be it for us. Funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and under the leadership of its Steering Committee, the DPLA project is working its course to build a national digital public library.
According to the DPLA president John Palfrey, the intended content of the project includes books, images, audio/video files, and objects. They hope to launch this free to all and free for all establishment in spring 2013. The platform source code will be made available to libraries free of charge. Libraries can then take the open source codes to develop their own local DPLA instance. For libraries that do not have the IT resources, they can contribute their content to DPLA via an open online tool.
If you or your institution are interested in getting involved with the project, there will be a plenary meeting on October 21, 2011 in Washington, DC. to get you started.
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Large Print Dictionaries
By ann | September 22, 2011
For your patrons who prefer using a large print dictionary, the following suggestions came from the Library for Blind and Physically Handicapped listserv.
The best dictionaries are online. The Oxford English Dictionary in electronic version could be printed or set-up on a stand-alone pc or laptop dedicated to the dictionary with ZoomText for enlargement. Large print dictionaries listed on the National Library Services for the Blind and Physically Handicapped website are The Large-Print American Heritage Dictionary, Merriam-Webster’s Concise Dictionary Large-Print Edition, and Random House Webster’s Large Print Dictionary. These dictionaries are listed by vendors. Houghton Mifflin is one vendor for the American Heritage Dictionary and the others can be acquired from Independent Living Aids. If a patron wants something more substantive, use screen magnifer software and the Internet.
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