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News | Training | Special Offers | MeL | RIDES
Keynote speaker Maxine Bleiweis in IndianapolisStep out. Take a risk. Dare to make a difference. Keynote speakers Maxine Bleiweis and Barbara Dewey urged attendees at this year’s Annual Meeting to become better innovators. They spoke from their experience as library directors: Bleiweis at The Westport Library in Connecticut and Dewey at Penn State University. Both highlighted the ways that they improved library service for their communities and provided helpful tips for those looking to create meaningful innovation in their libraries.
Register now for this March 16, day-long, multi-state event. The summit will take place both in Lansing, Michigan and Indianapolis, Indiana. Speakers and participants will interact both in-person and remotely. The morning will feature an overview and update on the Library of Congress BIBFRAME pilot project from Beacher Wiggins (Director for Acquisitions and Bibliographic Access, Library of Congress) and a presentation from Linked Data industry leader Zepheira on the implications for libraries.
Please mark your calendars for our annual eJournal meeting in the Lansing office from 9am to 3pm Eastern (8am to 2pm Central) on Thursday, March 30.
If you have never attended the eJournal meeting, we encourage you to come. It’s a great time to speak with your colleagues regarding eJournals and other resources, as well as to learn what others are doing in their libraries with electronic information.
Please register no more than two attendees from your library due to space constraints. The registration form includes several program options including a Group Purchasing roundtable discussion, unconference, and more. Please indicate if you are interested in participating.
Please register by February 3rd. If you have any questions, email Chrystal Babbitt at services@mcls.org.
Jessica Barnes, "The Stay-at-Home Librarian," and her familyJoin us "live" on the MCLS Facebook page on February 17 at 2pm Eastern (1pm Central) with Jessica Barnes, "The Stay-at-Home Librarian." Stay-at-home librarians may be raising children, taking care of family members, or looking for work. Whatever the reason, this live presentation will go over ways to stay current and learn new skills while away from libraries, and discuss strategies on how to successfully re-enter the workforce. Participants can interact using Facebook and Twitter. Join the conversation now in The Stay-at-Home Librarian Facebook Group.
MCLS facilitated 24 conversations throughout Indiana and Michigan in 2016 with nearly 283 library staff from multi-types of libraries participating. The conversations were a "deeper dive" into themes that arose from a series of conversations in 2014. The full reports of the conversations from both states are available now.
We had a great response to our call for PALs and we want to say thank you! Librarians from K12, academic, public, law, and government libraries in both Indiana and Michigan all responded, and we are really looking forward to receiving your suggestions and feedback on new products. If you signed up to be a PAL, watch your mailbox for a welcome message and your first trial, coming soon!
If you missed the call for PALs, email Chrystal Babbitt at services@mcls.org.
Trent SmileyTrent Smiley, Marketing & Communications Director at Capital Area District Libraries in Lansing, MI will be our special guest on Twitter. Join us on January 19 at 2pm Eastern (1pm Central), using the hashtag #MCLSchat. This is part of our ongoing Third Thursday Twitter Chat series.
Upcoming chats:
If you missed December's Twitter chat on "Building a library of things," and you want to read the archive, or if you need directions for participating in the upcoming chat, Read more>>
We will be at the Fayette County Public Library in Connersville, IN and the Salem-South Lyon District Library in South Lyon, MI. These discussions are free and open to anyone with an interest. Join us for the opportunity to support one another in your community engagement efforts.
Have you taken a look at our upcoming workshops list lately? We have some wonderful new classes this semester, including some that count as Technology LEUs for Indiana staff, as well as our standard cataloging curriculum. January - June 2017 workshops are up online and ready to accept registrations! Don't miss out... visit our website today!
For more information or to see our whole semester of workshops, visit our upcoming workshops and events page. If you have any questions, please contact training@mcls.org.
For the new year, MCLS would like to share with you an offer from Infobase Learning and your discounts on library supplies and equipment.
For more information or to request a quote for any products available through MCLS, please contact Chrystal Babbitt and Megan Bauerle at services@mcls.org or 800-530-9019 ext 401.
Request a quote or start a free trial before January 31, 2017 to save 40% on the History Video Collection and History Research Center.
The History Video Collection contains thousands of videos spanning the breadth of the globe and the length of human history including PBS’s Empires series, LBJ Goes to War by Bill Moyers, and Ken Burns’s The Civil War.
History Research Center contains the American History, African-American History, American Indiana History, Ancient and Medieval History: Pre-1500, and Modern World History: Post-1500 collections, which provide comprehensive historical content based on more than 70 years of expert scholarship.
MCLS has negotiated discounts for you with several library supplies and equipment vendors, including Brodart, Demco, and The Library Store. To receive your discount codes, please contact us at services@mcls.org or 800-530-9019 ext 401.
The newest members of the MeLCat Advisory Committee are:
The purpose of the committee is to advise the State Librarian on policies for the statewide catalog and resource-sharing system with a specific focus on standards, system evaluation, borrowing/lending policies, and best practices. Members serve 2 year staggered terms and are representatives from MeLCat libraries of varying sizes, types, and library automation systems. Two Library of Michigan staff serve as permanent members. Committee oversight comes from the MeL Coordinator as well as a MeLCat staff member from the Midwest Collaborative for Library Services (MCLS) who is also a permanent committee member.
Several libraries will be going live on MeLCat this month. Just as a reminder, data from these libraries may be visible on MeLCat even though the items will not be requestable until the library is fully participating.
MeLCat questions and comments should be sent to melcathelp@mcls.org.
The MeL project is funded by the Federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) via the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through the Library of Michigan, part of the Michigan Department of Education. Additional funding is provided by the State of Michigan.
As beautiful as a Michigan winter can be, there are times when road conditions can cause delays with delivery. We will attempt to notify participants when there are delays, but that will not always be possible. Thank you for your patience in advance!
RIDES questions and comments should be sent to the RIDES Assistance form.
