I love this time of year when we start to get warmer days and brighter sunlight. The first warm day, I decided to take a walk on my lunch break, and it was so enjoyable. Spring and summer can often give us that motivation to get out there, take advantage of the weather and become more mindful of our health. I used my fitness tracker to track my steps and was excited to see that I hit a quick mile. It’s small steps like these that lead to healthier changes, and it was rewarding to see that I reached that mark on my e-health device. 
 
Shortly after New Year’s, I presented a webinar called, “Let’s Get Digital: E-Health Devices and How They Can Keep Track and Motivate.” As the warmer weather begins to be the norm, many of your patrons might also be motivated to get E-Healthy and, therefore, curious about various digital health devices and apps that can help them meet their health needs and goals. As with most of my webinars, I encourage any attendee who takes my webinars to use my presentations to put on their own program at their library. I try to make the slides as informative and flexible as possible so that you can cater the program to meet the unique needs of your community. My goal is to give you the information in a way that is convenient while also helping you feeling confident in presenting the material with little additional work needed.  
 
So, if you want to put on your own library program on e-Health devices, please feel free to use the information from the webinar! You can sign up for the archive and watch the webinar, get access to my slides, and put on your own e-Health program. As mentioned, many of my webinars are set up in this manner, so if there is another tech-related webinar that you would like to put on for your community and you are wondering if something is available, please email me and I’ll be happy to see whether we have one that fits your needs, or perhaps create one in the future. Enjoy the warmer weather!

Holly Klingler
 

Don't forget about CE @ a Glance.  A simple one-page flyer to share with your staff.

4/8/2021
Youth Services (Children & Teen) Virtual Networking Meeting
4/14/2021
Statewide Directors' Networking Meeting
4/15/2021
Facilities and Admin Networking Meeting
4/16/2021
Human Resource and Fiscal Officer Virtual Networking Meeting
4/20/2021
Adult Services Virtual Networking Meeting
5/5/2021
Book Discussion Networking Meeting
5/13/2021
Academic Library Directors Virtual Networking Meeting
6/10/2021
Public Relations and Marketing Networking Meeting
6/16/2021
Multi-Type Libraries Virtual Networking Meeting

NEO-RLS 2021 Statewide Salary Survey
The long anticipated NEO-RLS Statewide Salary Survey will be sent out to all Ohio libraries on Thursday, March 18, 2021.  Full instructions will be included with the survey.  Please see our Salary Survey FAQs on our website or contact us if you have questions.  Thank you in advance for your time and participation in this important compensation survey!

The State Library of Ohio is pleased to announce a new online training opportunity on Reimaging School Readiness.   Do you wonder what research really says about how to support school readiness? The Reimagining School Readiness Toolkit is a suite of research-backed resources created for library staff to help families prepare children ages birth to 8 years for success in school and in life.

This week, the USDA announced that its temporary COVID-19 waivers for child nutrition programs are extended through September 30. During the public health emergency, the USDA has temporarily suspended certain rules through a series of waivers intended to facilitate food distribution within public health and safety guidelines. These waivers allow for non-congregate feeding (meals may be picked up “grab & go” style), flexibility in meal times, parent/guardian pick-up of meals, and – importantly – flexibility in area eligibility. These waivers are currently in place through September 30, 2021. See the USDA website for details.

Virtual Outreach: Social Services and Public Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Wednesday, March 17th at 10 am
Public libraries often are safe spaces for patrons seeking shelter, warmth, information, quiet, and a sense of community. But what happens when a public health pandemic impedes our abilities as librarians to provide outreach and supportive resources to patrons living on the fringes of our neighborhoods, cities and towns when our doors closed and traditional librarianship went virtual? Ally Dowds will discuss outreach efforts developed during the beginning months of the COVID-19 shutdown and how the Boston Public Library continued to reach patrons where they were while preserving existing partnerships with local organizations and forging new ones to maintain access and dissemination of supportive public health services to its community members. 

See what's new!  View Job Postings on the NEO-RLS website. 

Recently, the new “Toy Lending Library” program in the Children’s Room at Hubbard Public Library (Hubbard, Ohio) was selected to be published on the ALA’s “Programming Librarian” website as part of their Program Model pages!  This provides broad, wide and national/international visibility for HPL’s new “Toy Lending Library” program (opened July 2020) and excellent visibility for HPL and Ohio libraries.  This posting provides details and more so that other libraries may emulate such a program and offer it to their communities. Here is the link to the relevant page:  https://programminglibrarian.org/programs/hubbard-toy-lending-library .

Check Out Ohio Legal Help: A Free Online Information Tool on 3/17! Ohio Legal Help is a free online resource with material vetted by attorneys and guided by authoritative organizations. It has a user-friendly guided process to help patrons find the information and forms they need. In this session, participants will learn how this resource can help their patrons find easy-to-understand legal information, access local legal and community resources, and download a wide variety of legal forms.  This is a free webinar open to all Ohio library staff.   Check Out Ohio Legal Help: A Free Online Information Tool Wednesday, 3/17 | 2-3 p.m. Session Presenters: Susan Choe and Diane Wiebe (Ohio Legal Help)

Archives and Libraries: A Treasure Trove of Resources Thursday, April 8, 2021 1:30 pm   In this workshop, you’ll learn more about accessing the history resources available at county archives and local libraries. These community treasures can help you research the people, places and things that make each of our community’s special. Judy Cetina, Director of the Cuyahoga County Archives, and John Skrtic, Chief of Special Projects and Collections at Cleveland Public Library, will explain the wide array of resources available at archives and libraries in our area.  Contact Melissa Lattanzi if you would like to attend.