WebJunction

Call to Action: Come play in the Rural Sandbox!

Most of the 6000 library staff receiving this update have been a part of the Rural Library Sustainability Project. As the workshops are now ending, we have been brainstorming with folks about how to maintain the momentum of your great work and to share with others who haven't benefited from the action planning and strategies you're using to sustain your libraries. The Rural Discussion Boards continue to fill with posts about your action plans, status reports and celebrations! Several of you have taken the workshop materials and have repurposed them for additional action planning, training and workshops. New York participants adapted the curriculum to share with others at the South Seneca Libraries Workshop which included other directors, library trustees and volunteers.

The WebJunction Rural community wants you to share your strategies and resources, especially if you've adapted or condensed the project resources to engage others in the action planning process or to meet the unique needs of your library or community. Over the next few months we will be gathering all of your contributions into a "Rural Sandbox" which will make it even easier for rural libraries of all shapes and sizes to benefit from your great work and ideas! If you'd like to "add your toys" to the Rural Sandbox, describe them here, or if you prefer, email us at rural@webjunction.org.

In Focus Webinar: A Hitchhiker's Guide to Library Surveys

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 September 18, 11:00 am PT/ 2:00 pm ET for A Hitchhiker's Guide to Library Surveys. Surveys can be rich sources of information about your community's needs and your library's services and resources. When should you conduct a survey? What are the essential elements of an effective survey? How can you best evaluate your survey results? Guest presenter Colleen Eggett, Training Coordinator from the Utah State Library, has created a Participant Guide for those attending this, our 15th Rural In Focus Webinar! Find information on joining the webinar in addition to archives of past webinars at Rural In Focus.

Course Highlights

Take a look at the many online learning opportunities in our Courses area including WebJunction's Course Catalog and the E-Learning Clearinghouse. For those new to online learning, WebJunction's E-Learning Institute is presenting a special webinar on September 26: Be a Successful E-Learner. Come hear how e-learning differs from in-person training and how to make the most of your e-learning experiences. 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). September's Course of the Month is Internet Marketing and in October don't miss the course on HTML. It's a steal for the price with a whoppin' 30 hours of self-paced course work on everything from web page basics to using JavaScript. See some of the comments on this course, and share your own, in our discussion boards. And remember, any course you purchase through WebJunction is available to you for one full year.

Fall Conference Reminders

Association for Rural & Small Libraries September 26-28 in Columbus, Ohio
Association of Bookmobile & Outreach Services October 3-5 in St. Louis, Missouri

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.

Best Small Library in America
Nomination guidelines for the Best Small Library in America, Library Journal's annual award have been posted in the rural discussion boards. This is an amazing opportunity to show off your great rural and small library. The winning library will receive a $15,000 cash award from the Gates Foundation, conference costs for two library representatives to attend the 2008 Public Library Association AND a feature article in Library Journal. WebJunction member Eve Tallman is the director of the Grand County Public Library in Moab, Utah, the Best Small Library for 2007! And if you're going to be attending ARSL in a few weeks, be sure to introduce yourself to Rebecca Miller, Executive Editor, Library Journal and Herb Landau, Director, Milanof-Schock Public Library, Mt. Joy, PA, winner of the 2006 award. They're doing a session on Wednesday afternoon...What it takes to be the 'Best Small Library in America'.