PLA e-News, May 4, 2004
Volume 7, Number 5
*Spotlight on PLA Gold Partner
*PLA Programs at the ALA Annual Conference
*PLA Sponsors Regional Workshop on Staffing for Results
*Join the Major Leagues @ Your Library - Update
*Does Your PLA Committee Have an Idea for a PLA Product or Publication?
*Got Policy Guilt?
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BBC Audiobooks America (BBCAA) is a leading publisher/distributor of unabridged audiobooks and radio dramatizations for adults and children. In addition to having titles available on cassette, CD and MP3CD, BBCAA also carries lines of print books and readalong book and cassette combination packages. Audiobooks arrive in library-ready packaging and with replacements available. Flexible standing order plans with great discounts are available. BBCAA's friendly sales and customer service representatives are always happy to help libraries serve the needs of their patrons. BBCAA is proud to announce a new Library Friends Partnership - A Creative Fundraising Program that will help your library increase spending power, buy more bestselling audiobooks and improve audiobook circulation. Contact us for details!
BBCAA is now offering BBC Video, featuring some of the finest television programming in the world, including Absolutely Fabulous, Blue Planet, Walking with Dinosaurs and The Office.
BBC Audiobooks America
1 Lafayette Road PO Box 1450
Hampton, NH 03843
Phone: 800-621-0182
Fax: 603-929-3890
E-Mail: customerservice@bbcaudiobooksamerica.com
Customer Service - Kathie Slattery
Kathie.Slattery@BBCAudiobooksAmerica.com
National Library Sales Manager - Michele Cobb
Michele.Cobb@BBCAudiobooksAmerica.com
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PLA PROGRAMS AT THE ALA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
PLA President Luis Herrera invites you to attend PLA's premier event at the upcoming ALA Annual Conference. This year the President's Program and Awards Ceremony will feature keynote speaker Carl Hiaasen. This event includes PLA's Service Awards presentation and a keynote by Carl Hiaasen, followed by a gala reception. This program will be held in the Orange County Convention Center - Auditorium, Room 320 on Monday, June 28, from 5-6:30 p.m. The reception will take place afterward - from 6:45 - 8:00 p.m. at the Peabody International Ballroom F/G. PLA also is sponsoring a number of continuing education events at the ALA conference; visit www.pla.org for a complete list. The 2004 ALA Annual Conference will be held in Orlando, Florida, from June 24-30, 2004.
Visit www.ala.org for registration and housing information.
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PLA SPONSORS REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON STAFFING FOR RESULTS
The most vital component of any successful public library is the staff. The Public Library Association's Staffing for Results: A Guide to Working Smarter (ALA Editions, 2003) will help you answer key questions you have related to the output and performance of your staff. PLA is sponsoring a one-day workshop taught by the authors of the book in Chicago on July 27, 2004, at the Union League Club of Chicago (65 W. Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60604).
By analyzing in a systematic way, how long work activities take and then assigning steps to each unit of work, you will have a quantifiable measure of the staff output. Staffing for Results walks you through the process of measuring work, identifying best practices, assigning costs to each activity, analyzing resource allocation, and communicating results.
In this one-day workshop, the coauthors of the book, Diane Mayo and Jeanne Goodrich, will provide library managers and human resources managers information on how best to use the book's figures and work forms in your library to ensure that your library is optimizing its resources. After attending this workshop, you'll be able to answer questions like
- Who is doing the work?
- How long does it take?
- Is this the best use of people available?
- Do we need more staff? and others.
Diane Mayo, Cleveland, Ohio, co-leader of the workshop is vice president of Information Partners, Inc., an information technology and library automation and management consulting firm that specializes in helping libraries with planning and implementing a wide range of technologies. Jeanne Goodrich, Portland, Oregon, co-leader of the workshop is a consultant and trainer who specializes in public library planning, job analysis, and data collection and analysis.
Visit www.pla.org for more information about this workshop and for registration information.
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NEW INCENTIVES, ONLINE TOOLS, HIGHLIGHT LAUNCH OF JOIN THE MAJOR LEAGUES @ YOUR LIBRARY; 1,100 LIBRARIES REGISTERED
New incentives, online tools in English and Spanish, and events at Major League Baseball games nationwide highlight the third year of the Join the Major Leagues @ your library(r) program, which officially opens today. Co-developed by the American Library Association (ALA), Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association, the 21st century literacy program features an online baseball trivia contest and a trip to the 2004 World Series for one lucky prize winner.
Running through September 10, the program focuses this year on public libraries and is designed to complement summer reading efforts. The Public Library Association (PLA), a division of ALA, is a co-sponsor of the program. More than 1,000 libraries already have registered for the initiative.
Librarians now have access to the program's Web site in English and Spanish at www.ala.org/@yourlibrary/jointhemajorleagues and are encouraged to promote the program to library users of all ages. To assist librarians, ALA has prepared a toolkit with sample press materials and programming ideas, program logos, bookmarks, posters and mascot artwork. To access, click on "How Librarians Can Get Involved."
Librarians must go through a short registration process in order to access the tools and are eligible to receive a free program poster courtesy of Major League Baseball while supplies last. The posters will be mailed to libraries in May.
"Join the Major Leagues @ your library" celebrates and promotes two of America's oldest institutions -- baseball and libraries -- while heightening awareness of 21st century literacy skills: the use of computers and other media to obtain information and improve communications.
The centerpiece of the program is the "Join the Major Leagues @ your library" contest is an online baseball trivia contest that challenges participants to use the resources available at the library to answer baseball trivia questions. The library staff at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, a program sponsor, once again developed this year's trivia questions, which are organized by age group (10 and under, 11-13, 14-17 and 18 and older).
The grand-prize winner of the 2004 program will receive a trip to a designated game of the 2004 Major League Baseball World Series next fall and first-place prizes will be awarded as well. New incentives and prizes will also be offered this year for the top five libraries that bring in the greatest number of entries. The three libraries that bring in the most number of entries will receive a $100 bookstore gift certificate; the next two will receive $50 gift certificates to ALA Graphics. Libraries that bring in at least 25 entries will be eligible for a drawing of copies of the ALA Graphics Jackie Robinson "History Lives" poster. All libraries that send in a report detailing how they promoted the program along with sample publicity materials that utilized the official "Join the Major Leagues @ your library" logo will be entered into a drawing for a $100 gift certificate to mlb.com.
"Join the Major Leagues @ your library" is part of ALA's Campaign for America's Libraries, its multi-year public awareness campaign to promote the value of libraries, librarians and library workers in the 21st century.
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DOES YOUR PLA COMMITTEE HAVE AN IDEA FOR A PLA PRODUCT OR PUBLICATION?
PLA encourages its committees to develop publication or product ideas related to public library needs or PLA initiatives. If your committee is working on an idea for a product, or for a publication, let us know about it.
We look forward to seeing all those great ideas!
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GOT POLICY GUILT? PLA HAS THE SOLUTION
With all the other tasks that compete for a library manager's attention, developing effective, up-to-date policies for your library might not be a top priority. However, clear and effective policies are essential to your library's success. "Creating Policies for Results," a PLA e-Learning Course, is the solution you need now and for the future. Visit www.pla.org to sign up for this new online course and stop feeling guilty about your library's policies today!
PLA is a division of the American Library Association. Copyright Statement.
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