1. Update on federal broadband funding
2. Change in program information for annual report
3. Wisconsin Senior Employment program boosted by ARRA
4. Laura Ingalls Wilder family letters go online
5. Website of the Week - American Memory
6. Calendar
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1. UPDATE ON FEDERAL BROADBAND FUNDING
The Department of Public Instruction has provided a website (
http://dpi.wi.gov/pld/arrabbfunding.html) with information on the $7.2 billion in federal broadband funding. The following are some recent updates:
1) The state Department of Administration (DOA) and the UW System will likely submit large grant proposals that have a statewide or regional impact. The DOA proposal is centered on bringing fiber cable to all school districts and public libraries that are on the BadgerNet network and currently do not have fiber. This will total about 420 sites. The UW System proposal centers on developing Community Area Networks (CANs), which can include schools and libraries. More information on these two proposals is at
http://dpi.wi.gov/pld/pdf/arrabbproposals.pdf.
2) The DPI's Broadband Funding FAQ has been updated and is at
http://dpi.wi.gov/pld/pdf/arrabbfaq.pdf.
-- Question #3 states that there has been no announced Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA), which opens the application process. The first NOFA is expected to be announced in the latter half of June with applications likely due about September 1.
-- Question #9 provides an update on what schools and libraries can do now, even though no official grant application process has been announced.
3) State Superintendent Burmaster has sent a letter to the Governor's Office of Recovery and Reinvestment supporting a State priority to use the federal broadband funds to bring fiber to our public schools and libraries.
4) On May 12, 2009, Bob Bocher, who chairs the ALA's Telecommunications Subcommittee, attended a broadband seminar in Washington D.C., sponsored by the American Library Association and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
If you have any questions on the broadband funding, contact Bob Bocher, library technology consultant, at 608/266-2127 or
robert.bocher@dpi.wi.gov. Updates will also be posted to the DPI's broadband funding website referenced above.
2. CHANGE IN PROGRAM INFORMATION FOR ANNUAL REPORT
The Institute of Museum and Library Services, which administers federal LSTA funding and collects annual statistics from all states, will begin collecting information on library programs targeted to Young Adults, beginning in 2010. The Wisconsin Public Library Annual Report previously has collected data on the annual total for adult and children's programs and program attendance. Wisconsin will begin to collect data for young adult programs and attendance as well.
DPI will include this new data element in the 2009 annual report (to be completed by libraries early next year), but the information will be voluntary that first year, recognizing that libraries have not previously been required to submit the information. Children's programs will now be defined as programs targeted at children up to age 11, and young adult programs are those targeted at ages 12-18 years of age.
This change means that libraries should count both the programs they offer for children and those offered for teens. As in the past, the audience count is everyone who attends, regardless of age. Libraries will decide for themselves if the programs they offer were targeted at children or teens, but a single program may be counted only in one category, and attendance should be attributed correspondingly. Programs for all ages or for families often are counted as children's programs, but it all depends on the library's intended audience for the program. The 2009 Annual Report will request total attendance at both children and teen programs for 2009 (as well as a total for all programs and attendance, which would include adult programs) and those figures will be required in 2010.
Please note that the DLTCL is not requiring libraries to offer young adult programs, but if the library does offer programs targeted to young adults, those programs should be tracked and reported distinct from children's or "other" programs. This change at the national level is in response to the growing awareness that teens benefit from specific services and that more libraries are offering services and programs designed for that audience. Further information will be included on the annual report instructions. If you have questions, contact John DeBacher on the DPI's Public Library Development Team at
john.debacher@dpi.wi.gov.
3. WISCONSIN SENIOR EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM BOOSTED BY ARRA
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has provided increased funding for the WISE (Wisconsin Senior Employment) program. This program helps train low income seniors who are looking for employment and pays for a placement in a job where they can improve or refresh their job skills. Program participants are placed in a wide variety of community service positions at non-profit and public facilities, including daycare centers, senior centers, governmental agencies, schools, hospitals, and libraries.
The WISE program provides participants with practical training and valuable work experience consistent with their employment objectives. WISE program positions are part-time, temporary and typically are 20 hours per week. Participants working in the program are paid the federal minimum wage with federal funds. Program participants also receive basic computer training.
Monica Snittler coordinates the WISE program in the Wisconsin for Bureau of Aging and Disabilities Resources. She provided an overview of the program available at
http://dpi.wi.gov/pld/pdf/wise-overview.pdf. Interested librarians are urged to contact their area coordinating agency to discuss a possible placement. Contacts for each county are listed in the overview document.
4. LAURA INGALLS WILDER FAMILY LETTERS GO ONLINE
The Wisconsin Historical Society has recently published on its website more than a dozen original letters written during the Civil War by relatives of Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957), author of "Little House on the Prairie" and other popular books for young readers.
Wilder's famous novels are thinly disguised recollections of her childhood, and these private letters between her mother, uncles, and an aunt shed light on the real-world adults whom she fictionalized. They include a four-page letter written by her mother, Caroline Quiner Ingalls, shortly after being married and others written by various uncles while fighting in the Civil War.
The original handwritten documents are presented in color, accompanied by typed transcriptions, in the Society's Turning Points in Wisconsin History digital collection. A lesson plan based on the documents has also been provided for the use of elementary school teachers who use the Little House books in the classroom.
For more information, and links to the letters, see the feature article at
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/ (after May 26:
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/highlights/archives/2009/05/laura_ingalls_w.asp)
or contact Michael Edmonds, Head of the Digital Collections and Web Services, Library-Archives Division, Wisconsin Historical Society, at 608-264-6538.
The Wisconsin Historical Society is also presenting a "Laura Ingalls Wilder Days" program at Old World Wisconsin, scheduled for July 25-26. It's described in this YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-cz7bk7J2E&feature=channel_page.
5. Website of the Week
American Memory --
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html -- American Memory, the home page for the American Memory Historical Collections from the Library of Congress, provides free access to historical images, maps, sound recordings, and motion pictures that document the American experience. The site offers primary source materials that chronicle historical events, people, places, and ideas that continue to shape America.
6. CALENDAR
June 18, 2009 - Library Information Technology Advisory Committee, Madison
June 28-July 1, 2009 - National Educational Computing Conference, Washington D.C.
July 9-15, 2009 - American Library Association Annual Conference, Chicago
July 10, 2009 - Council on Library and Network Development meeting, Madison
October 15, 2009 - Library Information Technology Advisory Committee, Madison
October 20-23, 2009 - Wisconsin Library Association Annual Conference, Appleton
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To access previous issues of Channel Weekly, or to subscribe or unsubscribe, go to:
http://dpi.wi.gov/channel/chweekly.html
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Roslyn M. Wise
Editor, Channel Weekly
Department of Public Instruction
Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning
PO Box 7841
Madison, WI 53707-7841
Phone: (608) 266-6439
FAX: (609) 266-8770
For questions about this information, contact Roslyn M. Wise (608) 266-6439
Last updated on 5/22/2009 8:03:19 AM
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