Washtenaw Community College Library is offering a free workshop.
Subject: FREE workshop at WCC: Library collaboration with business service organization
Workshop: From Library to Biz Resource Center
Date: Friday, November 13, 2009
Time: 9:00am – 12:00pm
Location: Washtenaw Community College
Great Lakes Building Rm. 106
4800 E. Huron River Dr.
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
Cost: FREE!
CEU: 0.3 (Please include your full name, name of institution and last four digits of your SS# when making your reservation to receive CEU credits)
Description and Agenda:
Washtenaw Community College Bailey Library has partnered with MI-SBTDC, a business service organization serving new and existing small businesses in Michigan. Participants will be introduced to how WCC develops and provides resources and services to this community of patrons. If you are interested in learning how to strengthen the connection to the small business community in your area please attend this informative workshop.
Agenda:
9:00 am – 9:15 am Welcome and introduction
9:15 am – 9:30 am Beginning of WCC Biz Resource Center
9:30 am – 10:00 am WCC Biz Resource Center resources
10:00 am – 10:15 am Individual consultations with entrepreneurs
10:15 am – 10:30 am Break
10:30 am – 11:30 am Market research workshops
11:30 am – 11:45 am Q & A
11:45 am – 12:00 pm Evaluations
Library tour available after the workshop
Reserve your spot by Friday, October 30th. Contact Bethany Kennedy to reserve your spot, please indicate if you are receiving CEU credits for this workshop:
Bethany Kennedy, MLIS
Director, Access Services
Washtenaw Community College
Bailey Library, GM 111
4800 East Huron River Dr.
Ann Arbor, MI 48105-4800
ph: 734.477.8723
fax:734.677.2220
email: bakennedy@wccnet.edu
Merger negotiations between MLC and INCOLSA continue. The merger design team has met three times, and the next meeting will be September 29 in Fort Wayne. We plan to give an update about the merger at the MLC Annual Meeting on October 2. Representatives from INCOLSA will be on hand to talk about their organization and their reasons for pursuing a merger. MLC staff and board members will discuss our reasons for engaging in these negotiations, and you will have an opportunity to ask questions during the business meeting.
We hope you will join us for our Annual Meeting. It promises to be a lively and informative day. If you cannot attend, but have questions about the merger, you can leave a comment here or send email to Pamela Grudzien, MLC Board Chair, or Randy Dykhuis, MLC Executive Director.
Join the Michigan Library Association and supporters on the steps of the State Capitol, September 10 at 10 a.m. For details, see MLA’s Rally for at the Capitol web page.
MLC is pleased to announce that Megan Dudek is the newest member of MLC’s Michigan Evergreen team. Megan will be responsible for providing training and support services to Michigan Evergreen libraries.
Megan comes to MLC from the East Lansing Public Library where she worked for six years in circulation and interlibrary loan, including experience in ILS migration. Megan received her library degree from Wayne State University and her undergraduate degree in Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities from Michigan State University.
Lankes’ keynote is “The Times They Are A’Changin’ – the Logic of Participatory Librarianship,” a discussion of how library service should match how people build knowledge. He also discusses the obligation and power of libraries participating in their communities and society as a whole. The keynote will be followed by a panel of local librarians reacting to Dr. Lankes’ presentation.
After lunch, we will reconvene for the MLC Annual Meeting, which will include an update on the merger between MLC and INCOLSA, followed by the Director’s Annual Report and business meeting.
AGENDA 9:00 a.m. Registration
9:30 a.m. – 12:00 Noon
Welcome – Randy Dykhuis, MLC Executive Director
Keynote – R. David Lankes, “The Times They Are A’Changin’ – the Logic of Participatory Librarianship”
“Reactor” Panel – Colleen Hyslop, MSU Libraries; Larry Neal, Clinton-Macomb Public Library; Anne Heidemann, Canton Public Library
12:00 Noon – 1:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Annual Meeting
Merger Update – MLC and INCOLSA Board members
Director’s Annual Report – Randy Dykhuis
MLC Business Meeting
“Today as part of MLA’s Leadership Orientation we have officially launched our new advocacy website. It will serve as an easy way for library advocates to send their message to Lansing. By clicking on the “Write Your Legislator” button they can send a customized e-mail message to their legislators. I hope I can count on every library in Michigan to link to the website so people will act on our request. You will also be able to ‘Tell A Friend’ and forward the alerts to build a strong grassroots network with friends, trustees and library patrons. “For those of you who serve on boards or know of boards that would be willing to support our position, there is a full resolution on the Press Kit page that you can use and tailor to your needs. I challenge any of you to read it without getting upset about the fact that we have to spend any of our time doing this in the first place. “Next steps will include providing a downloadable bookmark, targeted points of view, and sample letters to the editor. I will send out further messages as these tools become available shortly. Also, be sure to join the 200 and growing fans of MLA’s Facebook page and sign up for tweets from our new Twitter service (links on new website)!
“Further, plans are coming together for our rally on the steps of the State Capital on Thursday, September 10. The time is 10 a.m. Attire is anything RED (thanks for the idea Bryon Sitler). Also, please contact me if you are able to bring your bookmobile. I keep hearing about how passionate people are about our profession and what we do. I hope to see lots of you and members of your community there. We will not let Lansing “shush” us. We will be heard. “And last, but not least, as our list of supporters grows, I would like to thank the Michigan Library Consortium for its support, partnership and commitment to this major campaign to protect the Library of Michigan and MeL/MeLCat.”
Today MLC and INCOLSA jointly issued this press release:
Lansing, MI – August 12, 2009 – Building on the collaborative relationship of the past year, the Michigan Library Consortium (MLC) and INCOLSA, Inc., announced that they have entered into a formal investigation to merge the two organizations.
A merger design team consisting of MLC Executive Director Randy Dykhuis, INCOLSA Interim Executive Director Marnie Maxwell, and three members each from the INCOLSA Executive Committee and the MLC Board of Directors met at the end of July to establish a process for the merger. The due diligence process is underway. The timeline calls for a Memorandum of Understanding to be approved by both governing boards in mid-November.
“Our library members are challenged by the current economy, so it is in everyone’s best interest that we look for ways to control costs,” said Dykhuis. “The OCLC and group licensing cooperative initiatives between MLC and INCOLSA have been very well received by the members of both networks. Our governing boards have agreed that a merger of the two organizations is the next logical step.”
Over the next several months the merger design team will explore all aspects of the merger. “A critical component of the potential merger is gathering input from the members of both organizations,” said Maxwell. “INCOLSA and MLC will hold regional meetings later this year to ensure our members have a chance to make their voices heard as we embark on this next phase of delivering the highest quality service to our libraries.”
I’m very excited about the potential merger with INCOLSA. We still have a long way to go but so far things look promising.
We live in exceptionally uncertain times and given the changes we’ve already seen, I think it makes a lot of sense to look at a larger membership and geographic region. The merger will allow us to offer new services that will benefit libraries and library users in both states as well as create more favorable economies of scale for existing services. It’s a win-win-win proposition for our members, our members’ users, and us.
Congratulations to Capital Area District Library staff for receiving an Honorary Mention in OverDrive’s recent outreach program contest. CADL’s ambitious Literature & Lyrics promotion employed a mix of media from in-library signage, to Facebook and MySpace pages, to ads on local TV stations, all directing the public to CADL’s downloadable media page. There, users could vote for any of a number of user-submitted music videos. Thom Jayne and the Nomads—winners of the three-month-long contest—were then invited to perform a 45-minute opening set for Sheryl Crow at Lansing’s Common Ground music festival.
