National Volunteer Week

Did you know that April 15-21, 2012 is National Volunteer Week across Canada? Volunteers are an important part of any not-for-profit's success in Canada. Just think about who volunteers to make your library a success - service volunteers (such as pages and programmers), Friends members, and your Board! An important part of a strong volunteer program is ensuring that you make time for recognition. Most volunteers spend time working for you and your organization getting very little back in return. Why not make sure they feel valued and recognized this volunteer week (if not all year round)?

Volunteers: Passion. Action. Impact. is the theme of this year’s National Volunteer Week campaign. The theme recognizes the individual volunteers across Canada who dedicate themselves to improving their communities.

The National Volunteer Week website (http://nationalvolunteerweek.ca) provides you with a number of resources to help celebrate:

• a 60-second PSA is available to submit to your local TV station (the site includes instructions on how to do so). Stations reserve time for Public Service Announcements, so why not try it out to raise awareness of volunteerism in your community?
• Best Practices for thanking volunteers. Includes free volunteer recognition items and support materials, and suggestions for volunteer recognition gifts.
  
• The Campaign Kit on the site includes free: customizable e-cards, posters, banners, powerpoints, videos, certificate of recognition, a mayoral proclamation and more.
• There is also information on the site regarding volunteer statistics in Canada and a program currently being used in Quebec that provides recognition for volunteers in the form of a professional reference for volunteers that details the skills and experience gained through volunteering. This program is slated to be translated into English for use across Canada. If you are needing to attract more volunteers to your organization, being able to offer something like this will be very attractive to some volunteers.

Take a look at how other organizations recognize their volunteers. It does not necessarily mean a lot of time or money. I received a free pass to Disneyworld once (accommodation and travel not included of course) just for volunteering, and it didn't cost the hosting organization a thing. No matter the time and resources available to you, formal recognition of your volunteer's hard work can go a long way to retaining volunteers and attracting new ones. Don't take them for granted - they can be one of our greatest resources!

What shoud we do with all these old magazines and periodicals?

Well, it's officially spring, and as such, many of us library folk have gotten the urge to do some spring cleaning...which, in library land, often means weeding. One collection that likely gets weeded quite frequently is magazines and periodicals. Some libraries may choose to sell old magazines and periodicals in their book sales, and others may opt to recycle or turf them. However, if you find yourself struggling with programming ideas for your library, you might want to read on before turfing all those magazines.

Crafting is often a large part of many library programs, but we're often left struggling for funds to pay for supplies...so why not re-use our garbage? Today I came across a great little resource: 100+ Ways to Creatively Reuse Old Magazines. This page provides several links to different webpages offering a variety of unique ways to re-purpose old magazines, such as:

Coasters












Picture Frames













Ornaments















And many, many more...

So get weeding those magazines and periodicals so you can create great, cheap crafts for your library's programs!

Random House Increases Price of EBooks in OverDrive

On March 1, 2012 Random House increased its prices of eBooks available through OverDrive by approximately 200 to 300%. This increase was announced at the beginning of February, at the same time that Random House affirmed that it would continue to sell eBooks to libraries without any lending restrictions. Although they knew it was coming, librarians did not expect the increase to be so steep. One article posted on the change pointed to the “sticker shock” occurring in the library world.

The development was widely reported in the news by both library and non-library sources. Many librarians initially reacted with anger – even voicing the need for legislation. Since then though, other, more somber ideas, such as what else you can do with your eBook budget and whether or not libraries should actually be in the eBook business, have surfaced. With all the upsets libraries have faced in the last year - HarperCollins’ move to 26 checkouts in March 2011 and Penguins’ discontinuation of sales through OverDrive this February – it is not surprising to see librarians considering other courses of action.

Whatever the outcome that libraries choose, it does mean providing patrons with a more limited eBook selection. Within OverDrive there are still many titles for $4.00 and up, but when a New York Times bestseller increases from $27.00 to $85.00, it behooves us, even more so, to explain to our patrons why we have the selection we do in OverDrive. For some great ideas on how to do this, check out Librarian By Day’s post, “How to Talk to Your Patrons About Penguin & Other Publishers Not Loaning eBooks to Libraries." Additionally, you have any questions, comments, or thoughts about this matter and moving forward, we would love to hear them.

Seeing More Open-Access!

For all those eager library journal readers out there, we’ll share some important news.  The Information Technology and Libraries journal made the special announcement that they are now an open-access e-journal. You can access the journal here ITAL.

The journal will no longer be publishing print copies, it will be exclusively electronic.  In March’s issue, President of the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA), Colleen Cuddy, sent out a message exclaiming ITAL’s excitement for open-access.  Cuddy stated that, “By supporting open access we are sending a strong message to the community that we believe in the benefits of open access and we encourage other library organizations to do the same. ITAL will now reach a much broader and larger audience. This will benefit our authors, the organization, and the scholarship of our profession.” 

Although electronic-only access is not ideal to some, having open-access to the journal is extremely positive.  This provides an important opportunity for information professionals to keep abreast of current research in the field without the barrier of a paid subscription.   

If you’re really feeling keen, another open-access techi journal is First Monday, which focuses on Internet and digital research. 

Happy Reading Everyone!

CIRA and Media Awareness Network Help Keep Consumers Safe Online

To mark Safer Internet Day, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) and Media Awareness Network (MNet) are launching a series of cyber security tip sheets to help consumers stay safe while online. While surfing the Web is fun and can present a wide variety of opportunities, you can also encounter unexpected problems. The first security tip sheet focuses on Safe Surfing, which explores the different types of risk relating to using the Web and ways Internet users can protect themselves. The Safe Surfing Tip Sheets will become available on the CIRA website as they are released, as well as on the MNet website at www.media-awareness.ca, along with other digital literacy resources.

This is an excellent resource to share with patrons or to have available at your public internet access workstations.