FY09 Other Significant State Library Accomplishments

• The State Library hosted a very successful week of classes for our patrons during National Library Week in April. 234 students attended 17 classes, 10 of which were new this year. This was almost double the attendance from previous years.

• “Live chat” was added to the State Library’s reference service in June both on our Ask A Librarian page and on the Iowa.gov page. Many patrons are using live chat to ask reference questions.

• Kids First is a biennial conference for youth librarians and the 2009 conference drew record crowds.  Nearly 250 public and school librarians attended to hear top-notch keynote speakers and attend a variety of breakout sessions.  As one participant wrote to Karen Randleman, the conference coordinator, "What a wonderful conference!! The keynote speakers were all just fabulous, educational and inspiring. I also enjoyed the break-out sessions I attended and I heard great things from friends and colleagues about the sessions I didn’t attend. Thank you so much for all the work you folks put into planning this. It was a wonderful break for me, invigorating at this time of year. You all are to be congratulated!"

• Based on a survey of librarians serving children, Karen Randleman changed the dates of the summer library program workshops from February/March to October/November.  Ten summer library program workshops were held in fall 2008 with 520 attending.

• The State Library began a partnership with Iowa Workforce Development to better serve the Iowa workforce, particularly the unemployed.

• The State Library kicked off its 2010 Census liaison activities in April by hosting monthly meetings of the 2010 Census Iowa Roundtable, open to anyone with an interest in making the 2010 census the best possible census in Iowa. The State Data Center hosted a statewide ICN session for city and county officials to learn more about promoting the census in their communities.

• The State Data Center added full-text copies of Iowa censuses from 1836-1925 to its Web site, along with copies of the 1989-2001 editions of Dr. Willis Goudy’s classic Iowa’s Counties data books. These publications, which previously were available only in Iowa libraries, are now accessible to researchers world-wide.

• The Iowa Center for the Book selected The Rope Walk, by Carrie Brown, as the 2009 All Iowa Reads book.  1716 Iowa students in grades 4-12 participated in the Letters about Literature program.  70 students and their families attended a reception at the State Library in April to recognize Iowa’s 18 winners and runners up and to hear Iowa author Sarah Prineas speak.  Annette Wetteland and Katherine Von Wald staffed exhibited promoting Letters about Literature at the Iowa Council of Teachers of English and Iowa Talented and Gifted conferences.

• Jay Peterson coordinated a series of EBSCOhost online training events.  The EBSCOhost overview had 41 participants. 

• The State Library and the Iowa Ombudsman’s Office jointly wrote a letter outlining the requirements of the Open Meetings Law.  The letter was sent to all public library directors and board presidents.

• The State Library worked with the University of Washington Information School as they implemented a Gates Foundation funded study to determine the impact that public access computing makes in the lives of library patrons, families, and communities.

• Reference contacts: Main Library, Law Library and State Data Center, 9,604; Library Development, 7,453.

• Web Hits: Library Development, 697,851; Library Services, 193,183; State Data Center, 347,487; Iowa Publications Online, 974,702; Center for the Book, 284,599; HealthInfoIowa, 19,362.

Staff Comings and Goings

• Mark Bockenstedt (SILO staff at ISU), started August 2008

• Scott Dermont, Library Development Consultant, started September 2008

• Michele Leininger, Library Development Consultant, left October 2008

• Katherine Von Wald, Coordinator, Iowa Center for the Book, left June 2009.