WebJunction

Sustaining Rural Libraries

As the project winds down, we're excited to be able to share with you some of the best practices that have come out of the two-year Rural Library Sustainability Project. WebJunction's very own Chrystie Hill is working on a book about libraries and community building and is sharing a preview with us this month. Kansas trainers Brenda Hough and Cindi Hickey joined Chrystie to write this piece, "Sustaining Rural Libraries," which shares their state's goals and strategies for maintaining the momentum of the WebJunction Rural Library Sustainability workshops.

In Focus Webinar: Joy of Computing with practical techniques for supporting public computing

Each month the Rural Library Sustainability Project presents an hour-long webinar related to the work of sustaining rural and small libraries. This month join us on August 23, 11:00 am PT/ 2:00 pm ET for You can do it! Practical techniques for supporting public computing. How are your peers meeting the challenges of providing access to public computers? Pooling resources, developing technology plans, and staff training are three things that can help. In this webinar, we will take a look at The Joy of Computing Cookbook for small and rural libraries at www.maintainitproject.org. Join a lively discussion around best practices that will include some of the libraries who contributed to the cookbook. Bring your success stories as well as your nightmares, and let's find solutions together! Find information on joining the webinar in addition to archives of past webinars at Rural In Focus.

Association for Rural & Small Libraries Conference

In cooperation with the Center for the Study of Rural Librarianship at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, the Association for Rural & Small Libraries will hold its annual conference September 26-28 in Columbus, Ohio. The mission of the Association is to provide a network of people and materials to support rural and small library staff, volunteers, and trustees to integrate the library thoroughly with the life and work of the community it serves. This affordable conference features notable speakers including Librarian of the Year Mary Baykan, and Stephen Abram, Vice President of Innovation, Sirsi/Dynix. Breakout sessions will cover a variety of topics, including Forum for American Indian librarians, technology, WebJunction, staffing, bookmobiles, trustees, customer service, marketing and more. For the conference agenda and registration details, visit the Association of Rural and Small Libraries 2007 Annual Conference website. Make plans now to attend this conference created for you!

Course Highlights

In addition to the new Rural Course, take a look at all the other great learning opportunities in our Courses area, including WebJunction's Course Catalog and the E-Learning Clearinghouse. WebJunction's course catalog includes 27 courses made available in partnership with the University of North Texas. Be sure to check out these three newly added UNT offerings: Microsoft Excel for Librarians, Creating Collaborative Lessons for the Elementary School Library, and Creating Collaborative Lessons for the Secondary School Library. And as always, WebJunction's Course of the Month is made available for the low price of $10! (WebJunction Community Partners may enroll in this course and all others in the course catalog at no cost, thanks to their state libraries). August's Course of the Month is Quickbooks and in September we'll feature Internet Marketing. And remember, any course you purchase through WebJunction is available to you for one full year.
 

Rural Message Board Highlights 

If you're new to WebJunction, be sure to visit Getting Around WebJunction Rural, which includes instructions on posting to the discussion boards.

Rural Forum @ ALA
In last month's webinar, participants shared Highlights from the ALA Rural Forum and some great ideas for moving forward. The most recent topics posted in the ALA discussion area include sightings of participants in the news, and a call to action for folks interested in working on the Rural Cafe Brainstorm Project, turning the list of great ideas generated in D.C. into a quick guide for making your library the hub of your community. Let us know if your interested in helping with the project!