NJLA Children’s Services Section Meeting Minutes – May 9, 2014 @ 9:30am Meeting Held at Ocean County Library, Jackson

In Attendance: Susanna Chan, President Metuchen Public Library Darby Malvey, Vice President Gloucester County Library, Glassboro Branch Jennifer Schillig, Member-at-Large #1 Monroe Township Library Peggy Wong, Member-at-Large #2 Piscataway Public Library Theresa Foster, Secretary/Treasurer Ocean County Library, Barnegat Sharon Rawlins NJ State Library Chrissie McGovern Matawan-Aberdeen Public Library

Agenda: 1. Call to Order 2. Minutes 3. Old Business 4. Reports a. Summer Reading Committee b. Youth Services Forum c. State Library d. NJLA Executive Board 5. Election 6. Conference 2014 7. Good of the Order 8. Adjournment

Call to Order: Susanna Chan called the meeting to order at 9:31am.

Minutes: The previously posted minutes of March 21, 2014 were approved. Darby approved, Sharon seconded.

Old Business: None

Reports: Summer Reading Committee – Chrissie McGovern

The Summer Reading Committee met on Friday, May 2nd. This was an opportunity for new and seasoned members to debrief about the 2014 workshops with regards to what worked and any changes that need to be made. There are currently five new members that joined the committee.

In April, Sharon Rawlins, Chrissie McGovern, Anne Lemay and Michelle Willis attended the Collaborative Summer Library Program’s Annual Meeting in Biloxi, Mississippi. Incentives and artwork for the 2015 hero theme were presented. Also, slogans for the 2016 theme of sports/wellness/fitness/exercise were chosen. They are: Children’s/Early Literacy- On Your Mark, Get Set, Read! Teens- Get in the Game: READ Adult- Exercise Your Mind: Read

The 2017 general theme for all ages is: Build a Better World/ Construction/Architecture

CSLP also has some new partnerships that offer discounted or free items to libraries for their Summer Reading programs. These partnerships include:

Xist Publishing- e-book reward certificates for $1 each Fit4Fun- free activity booklets for libraries to give to children National Geographic- discounts on books, items through Upstart including a certificate for a National Geographic Kids magazine subscription

These are just a few- information about other partnerships is available on the CSLP website.

The Summer Reading Committee is proud to present a program with Peter Brown on Tuesday, June 3 rd @ 11:30 at the NJLA conference.

Chrissie presented the group with the posters for 2015 and some of the purchasable incentives that will be available.

Sharon mentioned that there is a professional PSA for kids available. Summer Reading Collaborative fees have paid for the PSA. http://njsummerreading.org/ now has an Educators tab for School Librarians and no Login is necessary , It includes booklists, research, tips for parents, and weblinks.

NJ State Library Report – Sharon Rawlins NJSL Report for the CSS Executive Bd. Meeting May 9, 2014 Submitted by Sharon Rawlins, Youth Services Specialist, NJ State Library

Best Practices in Early Literacy Contest The four winning libraries are:  Matawan-Aberdeen PL (Monmouth County) for their Math and Science Literacy Program  Franklin Township Public Library (Somerset County) for their Scribble Time: An Introduction to Art Media Program  Cherry Hill Public Library (Camden County) for their Book Bundles Program  South County Branch of the Camden County Library System for their Bouncing Babies and Books Program

Other libraries that entered the contest were:  Bloomfield Public Library  Fanwood Memorial Library  Gloucester County Library System  Greenwich Branch, Gloucester County Library System  Logan Branch, Gloucester County Library System  Plainsboro Public Library  Scotch Plains Public Library  Somerset County Library / Bridgewater Branch  Swedesboro Library Branch, Gloucester County Library System  Watchung Public Library  Willingboro Public Library Congratulations to the winners and to everyone for entering! The winners will receive $500 and a certificate at the State Librarian’s breakfast at the NJLA Conference on June 4, 2014.

STATEWIDE DATABASES FOR FY15 The State Library recently announced the changes to the Statewide Databases for FY2015. More information is forthcoming. This was a year that unfortunately required cuts on top of the cuts made in FY2014. Statewide usage statistics were reviewed carefully. LibraryLinkNJ will work with the vendors and invite them to give the Cooperative discounted prices to the resources we lost in FY2014 and in FY2015. If negotiated successfully, these discounts will be available on LibraryLinkNJ’s discount page and LLNJ will alert you when they are available.

The State Library advised that assuming that the state budget for FY 2015 is passed without cuts to the proposed State Library budget, the following information lists the changes in databases that will be made effective July 1, 2014:

RefUSA: CONTINUED STATEWIDE ACCESS

Job and Career Accelerator: CONTINUED STATEWIDE ACCESS

EBSCO: * CONTINUED STATEWIDE ACCESS TO: Academic Search Premier, Business Source Elite via Web, ERIC, Literary Reference Center, Magazine Article Summaries Ultra School edition, Masterfile Elite via Web, Middle Search Plus, Newspaper Source Plus, Primary Search, Novelist, Novelist - K-8, Points of View Reference Center, and Referencia Latina.

* TO BE DISCONTINUED: Biography Collection Complete, Health Source-Consumer Edition and Salud en Espanol.

* TO BE ADDED: Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, Legal Information Reference Center and Small Business Reference Center

Gale - TO BE DISCONTINUED: Informe, Small Business Resource Center, Nursing Resource Center with Nursing and Allied Health and Legal Forms for New Jersey.

The State Library staff thanked the members of the 2014 statewide database advisory committee for their assistance and guidance in making these necessary reductions to database expenditures.

NJ State Library Selected to Receive Literacy Innovations Grant The New Jersey State Library has just been informally notified that we have been selected to receive a Literacy Innovations grant from the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development. In September 2014, NJSL will launch an NJSL Literacy Innovations pilot project, which will give a limited number of public libraries the opportunity to offer a high school completion program to their communities through Career Online High School. The State Library is launching this groundbreaking program to help address New Jersey's high school dropout crisis. The libraries selected this year will serve as models for this pilot project.

We know that, if interested, you will need time to discuss this potential grant application with your staff, trustee boards, etc. We are sharing some basic information now that may help you decide if you would like to apply. We are hoping to announce the formal grant application process in mid-May 2014 and the application deadline will be mid-July 2014.

What is it?

Career Online High School offers students the opportunity to earn an accredited high school diploma while learning real- world career skills. This is a product offered through Gale Cengage Learning. Part of the world's first accredited, private online school district, Career Online High School is specifically designed to reengage adults into the education system and prepare them for entry into post-secondary education or the workforce. Note - this is NOT a GED program. Successful graduates will earn a high school diploma and a career certification through an accredited high school.

Through a competitive process, New Jersey public libraries will be selected to host this program for members of their local communities. This represents the first effort in New Jersey to offer high school diplomas through public libraries and the first such state level endeavor in the nation. This program builds upon a rich history of literacy efforts in libraries including services to new Americans, ESL, and citizenship education, and is the latest step in the transformation of public libraries in the digital age as they move to establish themselves beyond just being a repository of books to a full-fledged community resource.

Through the NJSL Literacy Innovations Program an individual will be able to earn a high school diploma completely online through a career-focused process. Learning and literacy will be accessible to students in a non-traditional, online environment, allowing them to take classes remotely or at their local public library. Adult students will have the ability to select a career pathway and gain career skills in high-demand job disciplines. Upon completion of the program, these students will be able to combine literacy skills with occupational skills.

For more detailed information: http://www.careeronlinehs.org/

Los Angeles Public Library has already launched this program and it has been very successful. For more information: http://www.lapl.org/cohs

NJLA Executive Board – Lisa Taylor – Report given by Theresa Foster A brief report from CCS 2nd VP, Lisa Taylor, on the April 15, 2014, meeting of the NJLA Executive Board at the Piscataway Public Library. (The complete agenda and minutes should be available from the Executive Board)

Regarding Conference,  There was quite a bit of discussion regarding the upcoming conference. As usual, the board is seeking more registrations, and it is particularly helpful if attendees stay at Revel. This is the final year of NJLA’s contract with Revel.  At the May or June, 2914, meeting Pat Tumulty and Terrie McColl (president elect) hope to have some proposals for conference sites for 2015 and beyond.  The NJLA annual Conference now has a blog. Board member, Kate Vasilik is in charge of the blog. Perhaps we can contact her and see if we can contribute some content for it. Here is the link: http://njlaconference.info/blog  A Cafe Press shop has also been set up in support of Conference. http://www.cafepress.com/njla2014

In financial matters,  Membership numbers are as projected.  The auditor attended the meeting and declared the organization’s books to be in order.  A report was given on various investment accounts. The scholarship account currently has $178,954. It was decided that the scholarship committee may be asked to look over current practices, and perhaps move to awarding scholarships to existing librarians for continuing education, conference attendance, leadership training, etc. (as opposed to funding scholarships for individuals seeking new MLS degrees)  A statement was issued in support of funding for IMLS in response to Representative Ryan's budget.  The May 20, executive board meeting was scrapped to accommodate plans for a strategic planning retreat. I will not be available on the new date, so I asked that the board contact Susanna to ensure that CSS is represented at the retreat scheduled for May 21, 2014.  The State Librarian reported that there will be an emergency meeting regarding databases on Thursday, April 17. Databases provided by the NJSL will be trimmed. YS Forum – Sharon Rawlins The YS Forum will be Wednesday, October 1st at Monroe Township Library. Refreshments will be served at 8:45 am. The YS Forum will start at 9:30am and end at 2:30pm. The YS Forum is seeking ideas for programs. E-mail Sharon with your ideas. They are looking for new ideas not presented at NJLA. Around Labor Day registration will be available through NJLA, watch the NJLA listserv for more information.

Election – Peggy Wong All information has been submitted to NJLA. An e-mail will go out soon to each Section with the ballot and voting information through the NJLA listserv. Attendees of the CSS Workshop were encouraged to join CSS to cast their vote.

Conference 2014 – Darby Malvey CSS has a program in every possible timeslot and two in some timeslots. Darby sent out a fun flow-chart to the CSS listserv to promote CSS programs at the NJLA Conference. FB has a list of all the Conference programs. CSS is looking for volunteers to man the CSS table that will be at Conference. Darby will be sending out a request for volunteers soon. Moderators are scheduled for all programs.

NJLA Executive Board: Public Policy Update – Jennifer Schillig -The Johnson Legislation Bill draft for library funding, as always. They passed around a preview draft (will type up if you need it). So far, they've gotten bipartisan support for it in the Senate (Turner, Barnes, and Bateman have agreed to sign on it) as well as at least one Republican on the Assembly.

-NJLA Advocacy Week and National Library Legislative Day. Several members of the committee met with NJ politicians during National Library Week to promote libraries and what they are doing for our populations. The general feeling is that this went well, even though it was a little difficult since National Library Week also coincided with Easter weekend.

-This year's upcoming NJLA conference.

-The Return of Funds process. There was a survey on which libraries had to return funds in the last 5 years. 18 of the 32 libraries who did so had no funds to return any of the other 4 years. Furthermore, in the 2009-2013 period, $21,411,951 was returned. 77.5% of that amount was from just 10 libraries out of 239 joint/municipal libraries--less than 5%. The survey pointed out the cons of returning funds and questioned whether the process really works.

-In past meetings, there was a discussion of the statement for the NJLA charter about charging for library services (they support the ALA's position that all services should remain free of charge). The East Brunswick Library sent the NJLA a letter arguing that in a time of financial stress for many libraries, it may not be a good idea to deny libraries a source of income that may help them meet their needs.

Good of the Order There was a general Q& A with CSS Workshop attendees. - There was a comment that the Summer Reading website was fantastic. - There are Pinterest Boards available from NJ Summer Reading http://www.pinterest.com/njsummerreading/ - There were Early Literacy Activity Books available for pick-up – for parents. - Darby inquired from attendees about Reader’s Advisory for an 11 year old looking for more mature books as her reading skills advanced.

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 10:21am.