Tag Archives: programs

Inaugural Lunch and Learn program from State Library scheduled for March 14

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The Indiana State Library has announced the launch of a new program series called the Lunch and Learn Series. The series will run throughout 2024, with six programs already planned.

The inaugural program, “Fire Insurance Maps Online,” will take place on March 14 from 12-1 p.m. in the History Reference Room at the Indiana State Library.

Originally created to help insurance companies assess structures’ fire resistance, historic fire insurance maps now have a wide variety of uses, including historic preservation, land use research and urban development. Presenter Jamie Dunn, supervisor of the Genealogy Division at the Indiana State Library, will teach attendees about fire insurance maps and the Indiana State Library’s Fire Insurance Maps Online database.

Each program is eligible for one LEU for Indiana library staff. Click here to register.

Follow the Indiana State Library’s Facebook page for more information on the upcoming programs as it becomes available.

The Indiana State Library is located at 315 W. Ohio St. in downtown Indianapolis.

Please contact Stephanie Asberry, deputy director of Public Services and Statewide Services at the Indiana State Library, with any questions about the Lunch and Learn Series.

This blog post was submitted by John Wekluk, communications director. 

North Manchester Public Library: ‘Fearless, innovative and community focused’

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You can clearly see from the positive comments below how much the patrons of the North Manchester Public Library love and appreciate their library. Serving a population of a little over 6,000 in northern Wabash County, this library is doing amazing things for its community.

“Fantastic programming for all ages, staff that remember patrons’ names and interests, a wide range of books, movies, music and periodicals. The North Manchester Public Library is definitely at the heart of the community.”

“Amazing resource for this small community! The mobile hotspots you can check out make those long summer drives great for everyone’s high tech gadgets!”

“It is unusual for a town of our size to have a library of this caliber! The children’s department is second to none! Couldn’t be more proud!”

“I love that kids are allowed to be kids in their section of the library! Fun memories equal children who will love books forever. Keep up the awesome work!”

“One of the best small town libraries in the country.”

Director Diane Randall and her staff have accomplished many great things since she started her tenure in February 2020. Diane was fortunate to step into a library with a staff with many forward thinking ideas. I recently visited Diane to learn about all of the innovative and out of the box programs they are doing. It really takes a special synergy between the library board, director, library staff and community to make a good library an extraordinary library. I love what Diane said to me, “I am fearless, innovative and community focused.” And it shows!

Diane started at the North Manchester Public Library right before the world paused for the pandemic. As many traditional library services were disrupted, such as in person programs and public computer access, new needs in the community became evident. Food insecurity increased as paper and hygiene products became scarce. The library and community came together to fill these needs. Diane has been partnering with many local groups and has been working diligently to obtain grants that will further their vision to meet their community’s needs beyond traditional books.

In Diane’s own words:

“All the collaborations and projects my staff and I develop or create started with the development of the library’s current long range plan. It was very important to gather community and library trustees input as well as all library staff input. I felt it was crucial to include the library management staff of Adult Department manager and marketing coordinator, Jeanna Hann; Children’s Department manager, Sarah Morbitzer; Circulation librarian Cody Goble; and past programming coordinator Heidi Lovett in creating the plan. They not only gained experience in this planning process and understood it on a professional level, but also had creative buy-in and support for it. It was a wonderful team effort from which our full time staff and managers now have greater awareness and foundation as they build the library’s programs, outreach, collections and technology and as they utilize the buildings and grounds spaces. Future projects will include continued development of neurodiverse and sensory collections and spaces in the library; continued development of programming and events utilizing building grounds; and increased focus on collaborations and building of programming with the retirement and senior living communities post COVID pandemic.”

Their teamwork, planning and dedication to the community shines through in what they have accomplished so far.

Non-traditional library services began at NMPL a few years before Diane arrived. One of these services was a seed library, created by former staff member and programming director Heidi Lovett. With these new services, a seed was planted to go beyond the four walls of the library building with these innovative programs. The following list highlights these programs; be sure to click on the links to find out more about each program:

Seed Library – August 2017
Just as libraries have been sharing books for decades, sharing seeds is a natural extension of our culture. It’s a simple premise – take a seed pack, share a seed pack. The packets of seeds can be new or seeds harvested from plants. Novice gardeners get to experiment with new plants and can learn from expert gardeners. This is an all-around winning program for libraries – an efficient way to share seeds; a way to promote botanical literacy and a way to help fight food insecurity. No doubt many gardening books, magazines and videos have been checked out.

Makerspace-2-Go – August 2019
Makerspaces in libraries began around 2005 and grew out of the Maker Movement. Imagine arts and crafts groups, hobbyists, shop classes and science fairs combining in one place. They are spaces within some libraries with resources such as computers, 3D printers, audio and video editing tools and traditional arts and crafts supplies. Makerspaces give patrons the ability to try out technology and tools that they would not normally be able to access. Heidi Lovett, former programming coordinator, and Jeanna Hann, Adult Department manager and marketing coordinator, took it up a notch in 2019 with the ability to check out equipment and tools for home use!

Community Pantry – April 2021
A complementary program to the Seed Library is the Community Pantry. Interested members of the community approached Diane to collaborate to address food insecurity in the community. NMPL partnered with North Manchester Community Pantry to place a large plastic cabinet outside the library entrance. The pantry is stocked with non-perishable food items and paper supplies. The pantry is available 24/7 and community members can take what they need and to leave what they don’t. A local art student was chosen to paint a mural on the outside of the cabinet which lends visibility to the project and sets the tone for its goal. An excellent quote from the library blog sums it up perfectly, “The Community Pantry, a Mutual Aid Space, is where people take responsibility for caring for one another by sharing resources.”

Flat Playground – May 2021
“Social distancing” and “playgrounds closed” – NMPL Children’s Department manager Sarah Morbitzer turned these two phrases into a positive. This playground is like no other one you’ve ever seen. The library staff wanted to promote outdoor activity and intergenerational play with this unique play area. They also wanted to find ways to utilize their spacious library grounds. A blank sidewalk became the canvas for this masterpiece. There are six features on the playground – an eight piece activity track, four square, standing long jump, dart board, twister and snakes and ladders. These activities are great for all ages and mobility levels. This amazing space was made possible by the Bev Westendorf Memorial Fund, the JoAnn Martin Memorial Fund, Friends of the Library, the Tammy Seifert Memorial Fund, EduMarking USA and the NMPL Fun Run.

Pollinator Garden – May 2021
NMPL sits on a beautiful wooded two-acre lot. Members of the local Rotary Club reached out to Diane for a project to refresh the southeast corner of the library landscape through an initial Rotary Club grant. From this initial project, a wonderful collaboration has developed with the Master Gardeners of the North Manchester Rotary Club, the Purdue Extension of Wabash County and the library. A pollinator garden was planned and filled with native pollinator plants with the goal of long term sustainability. The new garden was revitalized entirely by the Rotary Club, volunteers and community members who donated plants and their time. Bonus – related educational programs have been provided by the Purdue Extension Services and also the Master Gardeners. And an extra special group has also sprouted from this – the Dirty Diggers Club run by Children’s Department manager, Sarah Morbitzer. Elementary and middle school-aged youngsters are learning how important pollinators are in relation to the foods that they eat. They are making that connection with their own eyes with their garden. The library is fortunate to be able to use the adjoining grounds of the historic Thomas R. Marshall Home – 28th vice president under Woodrow Wilson – for the Dirty Digger’s garden space through another community collaboration with the North Manchester Center For History.

Winter reading program expansion – January 2022
Through building new and renewed relationships with community businesses that are not part of the library’s summer reading sponsorships, Sarah Morbitzer and Molly Magus, programming coordinator, have developed an exciting growing winter reading program. Open to all, this program has its own unique sponsors and themes and is well supported by the community. It’s a great opportunity to continue to encourage and support reading within the community and is efficient to run via use of the Beanstack reading program software.

Sensory-2-Go shelf – March 2022
Developed by Sarah Morbitzer and Molly Magnus, this new collection is intended to reach patrons with neurodiverse needs. According to Merriam-Webster, neurodiverse is defined as “having, relating to, or constituting a type of brain functioning that is not neurotypical.” The five kits serve specific sensory purposes – high energy, calming, texture and touch as well as items to help with day to day activities (i.e., holding a cup) and other items for building cognitive development. This collection is for all ages, for use inside the library or for checkout to take home. This is a great way for patrons to try out the items first to see if they might make a personal investment.

Little Free Library – April 2022
A new beautiful turquoise blue Little Free Library is found just off North Market Street near the entrance of the Flat Playground. Lead by circulation librarian Cody Goble and Jeanna Hann, NMPL has joined the 150,000 Little Free Libraries around the world. Just like the seed library, people are meant to take a book and leave a book. This was made possible through a generous contribution from the Friends of the Library group.

Homeschool Resource Center – March 2022
Sarah Morbitzer and the Children’s Department have taken resource sharing a step further with their new Homeschool Resource Center. This collection can be used by anyone – for either long or short term homeschooling or for enrichment during school breaks. This collection contains homeschool books for teachers, a microscope, games for practicing sight words and much more!

There are even more projects that are in the works, so stay tuned to the North Manchester Public Library’s website, as well as their Instagram and Facebook pages to find out what’s next. Find out about this new project that is coming Fall 2022:

Electronic Message Center – Fall 2022
Diane is currently working on a collaborative project with their incredibly supportive Friends of the Library. The new digital message center will help promote programs and events, and relay library information to the community. The message center will enhance in-the-moment awareness of what is happening at the library, and will enable the library to reach community members who don’t utilize social media or read the local newspapers. The library will also be able to utilize the digital sign to promote their programs and events in Spanish to welcome and support awareness in our minority communities.

If you are in the North Manchester area, be sure to stop by the library and see all of the awesome things that are happening. Now, some final words from director of the North Manchester Public Library, Diana Randall:

“The staff at the North Manchester Public Library are so awesome! They are fantastically creative with such an innovative approach. They all have such a spirit of service to the community, and the community can feel it. I work daily to support this innovation and creativity, and I like to think outside the box to explore possibilities. I have always had a strong team-centered focus and customer service philosophy, and my staff know this. We work to keep up good communication and support each other. I also feel as a library director, I need to keep focus on the needs of my staff and supporting them. I work daily to let them all know this.

We all know that our libraries must continue to evolve as we move toward the future, and we have to keep a laser focus on what our communities’ needs are regarding services, programming and collections. Being open to new ideas and possibilities are crucial to our survival. I believe Indiana has a fantastic public library system with incredible library directors and library staff who are committed to serving their communities, and to supporting each other. I also am so grateful to the staff at the Indiana State Library for their input and support when I reach out to them with questions or for direction. They set a great foundation for all of us!”

This post was written by Northeast regional coordinator Paula Newcom of the Indiana State Library Professional Development Office and Diane Randall, director of the North Manchester Public Library.

Indiana Library Leadership Academy project recap

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The Professional Development Office of the Indiana State Library conducted the Indiana Library Leadership Academy in the spring and summer of 2021 after postponing it from its original date in 2020. One of the aspects of involvement in INLLA is the completion of a project by participants that will enrich their library and community. Sadie Borkowski, branch manager at the Tutt Branch of the St. Joseph County Public Library, shared the following write-up at the conclusion of her INLLA project. It illustrates the amazing ways that INLLA participants contribute to their libraries and communities after completing the program:

The Tutt Branch of the St. Joseph County Public Library is located on the Southeast side of South Bend and serves residents who find themselves on the other side of the digital divide. The average household income of our neighborhood residents is around $38,000 and the area has some of the lowest graduation rates in the city. There are very few after school tutoring programs available. The few free options that were available before COVID were on the other side of the city, making transportation an issue for the neighborhood youth. Our library chose to focus on an afterschool tutoring program to help bridge the educational gap for our neighborhood youth. We had initially planned to host it at our library, but when COVID caused us to shut down temporarily, it put a hold on our project. Since our library would be cautious about slowly reopening in stages, we were unable to do programming inside of our building due to a lack of space when social distancing was a high priority. As the schools changed to e-learning only, the students found themselves at an even greater disadvantage due to a lack of internet access. The school offered Wi-Fi hotspots on roving school buses that would park around the city at very limited times, but transportation issues and inclement weather made using these outdoor parking lot spots ineffective for our students who were trying to keep up. The need for our program was growing and we had to get creative to meet the needs of our community.

With every crisis comes opportunity. A local nonprofit mentoring group called Free Your Wings approached my library asking to do a mask giveaway pop-up program outdoors in our library parking lot. We were able to develop a great partnership with this nonprofit and included them in our discussions about ways to help bring tutoring services to our neighborhood youth.

Aja Ellington, who founded the organization with her daughter and son, turned out to be just the missing component we needed to make the tutoring program work. She approached me about the need for tutoring and we mentioned the issues we were having, with a lack of space being our stumbling block. She was also interning at a local church we worked with called Christian Broadway Parish, just a few blocks away from our library. She brought up the idea that they had a considerable amount of space at the church. We approached pastor Carl Hetler with the program idea and he was excited to get involved. Students from elementary through high school seniors came for the weekly program. It was really heartwarming to see all the neighborhood volunteers, including some of our librarians and local teachers help with hands-on tutoring so students did not have to fall even further behind and repeat the year.

For students who needed help with advanced subjects – but were unable to come on the days the tutoring was offered or needed bilingual services to help with their tutoring experience – the library was able to supplement the program with our online tutoring service called Brainfuse. It was a service the library paid for, and I would highly recommend it to any public libraries wanting to offer tutoring services to their community. We gave out handouts with step-by-step instructions on how to use the service both at the church site and as handouts at the library. It was also useful to have the one-on-one online tutoring service available if we had an overflow of students coming in. Since our library had donated extra computers to the church just a few months earlier, it gave us additional workstations for the students who didn’t have the equipment or were waiting for their laptops to get fixed so that no one fell behind. It was great to see the donated computers in action.

Broadway Christian Parish ended up being the perfect space, not only due to having socially distanced workstations, but because of their full working kitchen and cafeteria in the basement that they used to serve community members in need with their free breakfast program. Aja was able to use her connections in the community to get local restaurant owners to donate time and materials to prepare evening meals for students, which was a big draw to bring in the demographic we were hoping to serve since they were able to enjoy a free dinner after we worked on their assignments for the day. This meant more parents were willing to drop off their kids to the church as they got home from work, and we saw a much higher rate of attendance than what we would have anticipated just having it at the library alone. It was really the best way to have bad luck.

The weekly program series also gave the kids who were isolated during e-learning a chance to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. I hadn’t really considered how important that social element was to learning before seeing it in action. As the program series ended, we were able to have an outdoor neighborhood gaming event at the church for students to enjoy playing Nerf games with our library programming equipment. When COVID began, it was hard not to feel isolated from the people we were trying to help. The program helped us reconnect with our neighborhood youth who needed us now more than ever. The most important lesson I learned was that libraries are a part of a larger community, and that there’s no shame in asking for help. In fact, when we work together with community partners we are able to create things even bigger and better than we had initially planned.

This blog post was submitted by Kara Cleveland, Professional Development Office supervisor at the Indiana State Library, on behalf of Sadie Borkowski, branch manager at the Tutt Branch of the St. Joseph County Public Library. 

So, what does the Indiana State Library actually do?

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“So, what is the Indiana State library?” As the communications director at the State Library, this is a question I often hear at conferences immediately after the person who asked the question realizes that we’re not the Indianapolis Public Library. It’s a fair mistake. After all, not many cities are privileged enough to have two large downtown libraries. More importantly, though, it’s a great question. What do we do here at the Indiana State Library? Predictably, the answer to that question is “a lot.” All libraries do a lot. However, the Indiana State library functions a little bit differently than a public or academic library.

The Indiana State Library from W. Ohio St.

For starters, the Indiana State Library is a state government agency. Yes, we are all government employees of the State of Indiana, which is why we all have cool badges with our pictures on them. As a state agency, the library operates using a two-pronged approach. One prong is public services, the side of the library which, as the name implies, serves the citizens of Indiana and preserves the state’s history. The other prong is statewide services, the side of the state library which supports libraries throughout the state. Our mission statement sums up these two operational divisions: “Serving Indiana residents, leading and supporting the library community and preserving Indiana history.”

The Indiana State Library from Senate Ave.

Public Services
On the public services side, we operate in a similar fashion to a public library. A special research library, the Indiana State Library is a beautiful Art Deco building, opened in 1934, that sits on the Canal Walk in downtown Indianapolis near the Indiana Historical Society, the Eiteljorg Museum and the Indiana State Museum. Two of the library’s four floors are open to the public. However, we differ from a traditional public library in that the majority of our materials are Indiana-related. We do not carry many of the latest popular fiction and nonfiction titles – unless they are Indiana-related – but we do have the largest collection of Indiana newspapers in the world. In the state, our genealogy collection is second to only the Allen County Public Library in terms of size, and our collection is one of the largest in the entire Midwest. We also house the Indiana Young Readers Center, the only young readers center within a state library in the country. The center is modeled after the Library of Congress Young Readers Center and features Indiana authors and illustrators, including Jim Davis, Meg Cabot, Norman Bridwell and John Green. The state’s Talking Book and Braille Library is also part of the Indiana State Library. TBBL provides free library service to residents of Indiana who cannot use standard printed materials due to a visual or physical disability. TBBL also operates Indiana Voices and hosts the biennial Indiana Vision Expo.

Letters About Literature workshop in the Indiana Young Readers Center

On the subject of events, in addition to Vision Expo, the state library also hosts the annual Indiana Poetry Out Loud finals, Letters About Literature, the Genealogy Fair and Statehood Day. Furthermore, the library offers INvestigate + Explore summer programming for children; Genealogy for Night Owls; monthly one-on-one DNA testing consultations with the Central Indiana DNA Interest Group; various history and genealogy lectures and programs, highlighted by our recent lecture series; and even the occasional art opening in our Exhibit Hall. Yes, we even showcase fine art when our many display cases throughout the library aren’t already put to use featuring some of the wonderful items in our collection – which are often featured in this blog.

Dolls created by the Work Projects Administration in 1939 for the Indiana Deaf History Museum on display as part of the “Welcome to the Museum!” exhibit in the library’s Exhibit Hall.

Wait, there’s more! The Indiana State Library is a DPLA hub via Indiana Memory, a collection of digitized books, manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, maps and other media. Indiana Memory is a collaborative effort between Indiana libraries, archives, museums and other cultural institutions. The library also maintains its own digital collection, covering a wide range of topics such as the arts, environment, sports and women.

We participate in the Federal Depository Library Program and serve as the congressionally-designated regional depository of Indiana. As the regional depository, the library is required to collect all content published by the U.S. government. The library is also the home of the Indiana State Data Center. State data centers across the country assist the Census Bureau by disseminating census and other federal statistics. The data center provides data and training services to all sectors of the community including government agencies, businesses, academia, nonprofit organizations and private citizens.

The Indiana Center for the Book is a program of the Indiana State Library and an affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. The center promotes interest in reading, writing, literacy, libraries and Indiana’s literary heritage by sponsoring events and serving as an information resource at the state and local level.

The Martha E. Wright Conservation Lab

The Martha E. Wright Conservation Lab is the center for all things preservation and conservation at the Indiana State Library. Preservation and conservation services aims to improve and ensure long-term, ongoing access to the cultural and historical collections of the Indiana State Library. The department, staffed by one full-time conservator as well as volunteers and occasional interns, fulfills this primary goal by providing conservation treatments of collections items and implementing preventive care and administrative policies.

Finally, our Ask-a-Librarian service offers an opportunity for anyone to, well, ask a librarian a reference or research question. Questions may be submitted 24/7 to Ask-a-Librarian and all questions will be answered within two business days.

All of these services come courtesy of our divisions: Genealogy, Indiana, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Catalog, Talking Books and Braille and Reference and Government Services.

Pretty simple, right? Shall we move on to statewide services?

Statewide Services
Nearly every single library patron in the state of Indiana has benefited from the Indiana State Library’s statewide services. While some programs and services are offered directly to Indiana residents, the vast majority of statewide services could be considered behind-the-scenes. Not many patrons ponder how their interlibrary loans travel from one location to another or how librarians keep up with their required continuing education, but statewide services makes them possible. Statewide services consists of two divisions, the Library Development Office and the Professional Development Office, or LDO and PDO, as they are known to many library employees throughout the state.

LDO supports the improvement and development of library services to all Indiana citizens. The aforementioned Indiana Memory, Hoosier State Chronicles – which is Indiana’s digital historic newspaper program with nearly a million digitized Indiana newspaper pages – and INSPIRE are three programs freely available to Indiana residents that are maintained by LDO.

Hey, that’s us!

INSPIRE, also known as “Indiana’s virtual library,” is a collection of vetted databases provided to the residents of the state at no cost. INSPIRE offers a diverse collection of reference materials, such as free access to level one of Rosetta Stone in 30 languages, a small business resource database, the latest issues of Consumer Reports and much more. If you attended high school or college in Indiana in the last 20 years and needed online resources, there’s a good chance you’ve used INSPIRE.

Hey, that’s us, too!

Let’s get to the behind-the-scenes stuff from LDO. The Library Development Office administers over $3 million of LSTA grant money each year. This federal funding, distributed from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as part of the Grants to States program, is intended for projects that support the Library Services and Technology Act signed into law Sept. 30, 1996. The purposes and priorities of the LSTA include increasing the use of technology in libraries, fostering better resource sharing among libraries, and targeting library services to special populations. While the Indiana State Library does set aside an allotment to be awarded directly to libraries as competitive LSTA sub-grants, the majority of the funds are funneled into services meant to benefit the entire state.

Remember those interlibrary loans? Well, they travel from library to library via a combination of SRCS, Indiana Share and InfoExpress. SRCS, Indiana’s Statewide Remote Circulation Service, links together catalogs of over 150 libraries containing over 30 million items. These materials are delivered to your library using the InfoExpress courier service. Indiana Share also allows libraries to request interlibrary materials though the Indiana State Library.

In addition to LSTA-supported programs, LDO supports E-rate, the discount telecommunication program available to schools and libraries from the federal government; the PLAC card program, which allows an individual to purchase a Public Library Access Card, thus permitting them to borrow materials directly from any public library in Indiana; and Read-to-Me, a cooperative effort between LDO and the state’s correctional facility libraries to enable incarcerated parents an opportunity to share the joys of reading with their children.

The complete list of services provided by the Indiana State Library and administered by LDO are far too expansive to cover in a single blog post, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that LDO also provides consultation to libraries across the state in the areas of library finance, management, planning, evaluation, grants, board training, trustees, expansion, library standards, certification, statistics, new director information and unserved communities.

PDO supports the advancement and development of library staff in all Indiana libraries for improved services to the citizens of Indiana. The Professional Development Office includes specialists in the areas of programming, children’s services and continuing education. The four regional coordinators and the children’s consultant travel the state to provide support for library employees in Indiana.

Staff working at Indiana public libraries who spend at least 50% of their time on professional library work are required by law to be certified; they gain and maintain certification by earning a certain amount of library education units, also known as LEUs, every five years. PDO frequently oversees, creates or produces these webinars, which cover a wide range of topics. “So, You Want to Start a Library Podcast,” “Serving Adults with Disabilities” and “Teaching iPad and iPhone to Seniors” are just as few examples of recent webinars. Additionally, PDO assists librarians in locating other sources of continuing education outside of the state.

Legos!

The Professional Development Office provides five types of kits for use by youth librarians across the state: book club kits, LEGO kits, DUPLO kits, storytime kits and Big Idea storytime kits. PDO also maintains the wildly-popular VR kits. The kits are shipped to schools and libraries via InfoExpress and may be kept for a specified duration of time.

Connect IN, the program that provides free high-quality and functional websites to public libraries without a current online presence, and to those having difficulty maintaining their existing site, is managed by PDO. Connect IN provides a modern and high-quality website, tech support and training, content management system training, free website hosting and free email for library staff.

The 2019 The Difference is You conference

In addition to the daily consultation and educational support offered by PDO staffers, the department spearheads larger initiatives throughout the year to honor and develop current library employees. These initiatives include the Indiana Library Leadership Academy and the The Difference is You library support staff and paraprofessional conference. Whether it’s working with individual librarians or entire gatherings, PDO puts the continuing education of Indiana librarians at the forefront of all they do.

Does your local library use the Evergreen catalog? That’s also a service provided to more than 100 Indiana libraries from the Indiana State Library that falls under the statewide services banner. Evergreen is funded by the Indiana State Library through LSTA monies and participant membership fees. The services provided by the State Library include purchasing and maintaining the central servers, personnel costs in operating the system, training, software development, data conversion and other related expenses.

The Indiana Historical Bureau and the Statehouse Education Center
The Indiana State Library has within its walls the Indiana Historical Bureau and the Statehouse Education Center. In 2018, the Indiana Historical Bureau, previously its own agency, merged with the Indiana State Library. The historical markers you might see while travelling the state are part of the Indiana Historical Marker Program administered by the bureau. Additionally, the Indiana Historical Bureau regularly publishes a detailed history blog, digitizes many historical items, organizes the Hoosier Women at Work conference and produces the award-winning podcast Talking Hoosier History. In 2017, the 120th Indiana General Assembly passed HB1100 mandating that the Indiana Historical Bureau “establish and maintain an oral history of the general assembly,” leading to the Indiana Legislative Oral History Initiative. Also, keep an eye out for a re-vamped shop opening in the near future on the first floor of the state library.

Courtesy of the Indiana Historical Bureau

The Statehouse Education Center is a project of the Indiana Bicentennial Commission, a commission that was assembled to spearhead the strategic plan behind the celebration of Indiana’s 2016 bicentennial. As part of the Statehouse Tour Office under the Indiana Department of Administration, the center sees thousands of students, families and individuals each year who learn how state government works for them through interactive exhibits on voting, urban versus rural landscapes and the architecture of the statehouse.

Thank You
Hopefully, I’ve given you a sense of the many services the Indiana State Library provides publicly and behind the scenes. Everything the library does would not be possible without our many volunteers and employees, the Indiana Library and Historical Board, the Indiana State Library Foundation, the General Assembly, our financial office and the work of our many committees, including the INSPIRE Advisory Committee, the IMDPLA Committee and the Resource Sharing Committee… just to name a few. Indeed, we all do “a lot.”

This blog post was written by John Wekluk, communications director, Indiana State Library. For more information, email the communications director.

Returning this year… summer programs for kids!

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We are thrilled to announce that the Indiana State Library will again provide free youth programming this summer through the Indiana Young Readers Center! June and July are going to be packed with fun and engaging workshops for kids to INvestigate + Explore.

Join us this summer for six exciting programs combining Indiana investigations and explorations of cool themes like art, culture and history. Programs are open to children who have completed third grade up through middle school and require advanced registration. Read below for more information and learn how to register for our programs. All programs will take place at the Indiana State Library, located at 315 W. Ohio St. in Indianapolis. Attendees may also enter through the door at 140 N. Senate Ave. Public registration is limited, so act fast!

Next Great Architects | Wednesday, June 13, 2018, 1:30 p.m. – 3 p.m. | History Reference Room
Kionna Walker will show children how to use problem solving and their imaginations to explore architectural planning processes. Kids will also learn about the design and construction of the Indiana State Library. Register here.

Gifts from the Earth: Native American Effigy Pottery | Wednesday, June 20, 2018, 1:30 p.m. – 3 p.m. | Indiana Authors Room
Artist Robin McBride Scott will lead children in creating an effigy vessel they can take home after they learn about treaties. Participants will also see the library’s own copy of St. Mary’s Treaty. Register here.

The Writerly Life | Wednesday, June 27, 2018, 1:30 p.m. – 3 p.m. | Indiana Authors Room
Julie Patterson will lead children in applying strategies for developing ideas into stories that others want to read. Children will also decorate notebooks so they can practice the writerly life at home. Register here.

Jazz Drum Dialogues | Wednesday, July 11, 2018, 1:30 p.m. – 3 p.m. | Indiana Authors Room
Children will learn about the rich history in the Indiana Avenue corridor and learn the basics of jazz drumming from local musician Lawrence Clark. Register here.

Comic Creation | Monday, July 16, 2018, 1:30 p.m. – 3 p.m. | Indiana Authors Room
Jingo de la Rosa will lead children in drawing comics after they learn about some of Indiana’s great illustrators like Norman Bridwell, Jim Davis, Ben Hatke, Keiko Kasza and Troy Cummings. Register here.

Sitting Still Like a Poet | Wednesday, July 25, 2018, 1:30 p.m. – 3 p.m. | Indiana Authors Room
Julie Patterson will help children quiet their minds and pay attention to the “story worthy” material around them. Children will also learn about different types of poetry and Indiana poets. Register here.

INvestigate + Explore is funded by the Indiana State Library Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Each program is partially facilitated in partnership with Arts for Learning Indiana.

Please contact Caitlyn Stypa at (317) 232-1401 or via email, with any questions.

This blog post was written by Caitlyn Stypa, Indiana Young Readers Center program coordinator, Indiana State Library.

Collaborative Summer Library Program 2018 news

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It’s never too early to being thinking about Summer Reading! That’s a good thing, because the roll out of Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP) 2018 has begun.

All CSLP materials have shipped

All CSLP 2018 manuals have been shipped to all public library directors in Indiana. If you are a librarian in charge of planning summer reading at your library, make sure you check in with your director in early December if they have not yet given it to you. The manual, which is on a flash drive, and other materials will arrive in a padded envelope. These envelops were primarily sent via InfoExpress, but a few were mailed via USPS or will be hand-delivered by your Indiana State Library (ISL) regional consultant.

Also of note: You can access the manual online this year! It is improved over last year with some additional search options. It can be reached via the CSLP website. Full instructions for accessing it can be found on the card included with the manual flash drive.

CSLP 2018 training opportunities

I’ve prepared a slate of trainings at libraries around the state so I can share information about the 2018 “Libraries Rock!” theme, artwork and manual. The training will include a roundtable discussion of program ideas for all ages. Please see the bottom of this post for a complete list of locations, including a newly-added location in southwest Indiana.

Can’t make it to an in-person training? No problem! There will be a set of webinars:

Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018
10 a.m. EST – CSLP 2018 Webinar – Early Literacy/School Age
2 p.m. EST – CSLP 2018 Webinar – Teen/Adult

Both webinars will be recorded and will be made available for viewing by the end of January.

Teen Video Challenge

The Indiana State Library and the Collaborative Summer Library Program are once again thrilled to announce our annual Teen Video Challenge!

What: A 30-to-90 second video, created by your 13-18 year old patrons, centered around their interpretation of the CSLP 2018 slogan “Libraries Rock!”

How: Start with these forms, found on ISL’s website:

When: Videos are due to me, via YouTube link, by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018. All originals of the paperwork should be sent to me via InfoExpress or USPS and postmarked no later than Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018.

Why should we participate? Your teens will learn so much! They’ll gain technical skills like writing, planning, shooting and editing and they’ll learn incredibly important social and emotional skills like working in groups, communicating and thinking creatively. Plus, it’s fun!

Is there a prize? This year the creator of one Indiana entry will win $100 and the teen’s public library will receive a prize worth $50 from Upstart. Indiana entries competeonly against each other, which increases the chances of winning. Tell your teens about it today!

Complete list of CSLP in-person trainings

All trainings can be signed up for via ISL’s Events Calendar and all trainings are from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Eastern Time, unless otherwise noted.

Friday, Dec. 8, 2017
New Carlisle-Olive Township Public Library
408 S. Bray, New Carlisle, IN 46552

Friday, Dec. 15, 2017
Ohio Township Public Library – Bell Road Branch
4111 Lakeshore Dr, Newburgh, IN 47630
(Note: Newburgh is on Central Time; training will run 10 a.m.- 12 p.m. Central/11 a.m.- 1 p.m. Eastern)

Monday, Dec. 18, 2017
Huntington City-Township Public Library
255 W Park Dr, Huntington, IN 46750

Friday, Jan. 5, 2018
Madison-Jefferson County Public Library – Main Branch
420 West Main Street, Madison, IN 47250

Friday, Jan. 12, 2018
Washington Carnegie Public Library
300 West Main St., Washington, IN 47501

Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018
Johnson County Public Library – White River Branch
1664 Library Blvd., Greenwood, IN  46142

Friday, Jan. 26, 2018
Kokomo-Howard County Public Library – Main Branch
220 N. Union St., Kokomo IN 46901

Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018
Morrisson-Reeves Public Library
80 North 6th Street, Richmond, IN 47374

Monday, Feb. 26, 2018
Vigo County Public Library – Main Branch
One Library Square, Terre Haute, IN 47807

Friday, March 16, 2018
Pulaski County Public Library
121 S. Riverside Dr., Winamac, IN 46996

This blog post was written by Beth Yates, children’s consultant for the Indiana State Library.

Indiana State Library welcomes new public libraries and federal programs consultant

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The Indiana State Library welcomes Angela Fox as the new public libraries and federal programs consultant. As liaison to the IMLS public library programs, she’ll be fielding questions on LSTA grants and the annual public libraries report. Additionally, she’ll work in conjuncture with others in the LDO to provide training to public library staff.

Angela has a vested interest in public libraries, having spent the last fifteen years as an employee with the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne. She’s worked a variety of jobs within that system, most recently as the children’s and teen librarian at a large branch location. When she’s not getting lost in the tunnels beneath the state library, she enjoys reading narrative nonfiction, walking the world’s sweetest dog and trash-talking opponents in her fantasy-football league.

Angela can be reached via email or by calling (317) 234-6550.

This blog post by Jen Clifton, Library Development Office director.