Every two years we conduct a Membership survey in order to determine how effective we are in meeting your needs, helping with your challenges, and maintaining relevant programming and training.  Our 2021 Membership Survey opens today and closes on Friday, June 25^th.  According to our analysis, the survey will take approximately 7-10 minutes for you to complete, has a low fatigue level and is very accessible (aren’t analytics fun?!).  We want to hear from everyone!  Please take time to complete the survey so we are able to serve you with excellence.  We are listening and we care what you have to say.  Together we are maximizing library potential.  Have a wonderful week!

Betsy Lantz

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

9/8/2021 - 9/30/2021
8th Annual Emerging Technology Symposium: Explore, Adapt and Transform

9/14/2021
Indoors, and Outdoors, and Zoom! Oh My! – Flexible Storytelling for the 21st Century
9/16/2021
Good Hiring Practices: Learn how to ask great questions & read basic body language signals

Our congratulations go out to the following new Board Members who will join the Board for three year terms beginning July 1, 2021-June 30, 2024 – Melanie McGurr, University of Akron (Academic Library), Eric Taggart, Rodman Public Library (Zone 2 Library), Joy Walk, Ritter Public Library (Zone 3 Library) and Mariana Branch, Kingsville Public Library (Zone 4 Library).  Thanks to everyone who ran for a Board seat and to everyone who voted!

Congratulations to Denise Williams-Riseng of Cleveland Public Library on being our first member to complete the 2021 Customer Service Academy.  We still have many more programs in the 2021 Customer Service Academy.  All Customer Service Academy webinars and online workshops are identified with the Customer Service logo.

3 Weeks and 3 Days Left to Nominate! Please don’t pass up the opportunity to nominate someone for the NEO-RLS Shooting Star, Rising Star or Advocacy Awards.  The online form is easy to complete and the deadline is June 30th.  Make certain those that have gone above and beyond are recognized by nominating someone today!

Accessibility Services As many of you have discovered, we began offering Closed Captioning (CC) for our live webinars and transcription for our archived webinars several months ago.  In addition, we have purchased a hearing loop for use at in-person events once they resume.  We are currently investigating the need for other services to make programs and training more accessible to our membership.

The Marketing and Public Relations Committee of NEO-RLS has been working hard over the past year to examine and discover a variety of innovative ways to convey the many valuable services and benefits that NEO-RLS has to offer to its membership. We developed our committee charge which states, “The Marketing/PR Committee serves as a resource to the Executive Director in areas of marketing and public relations in order to ensure effective message content and delivery and increase recognition of the services and benefits of NEO-RLS membership for the libraries of the region.”

The State Library of Ohio is pleased to announce the launch of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)Outreach Grant initiative. Utilizing Federal ARPA funds, received from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the State Library of Ohio encourages Ohio libraries of all types to apply for this competitive grant program revolving around the concept of Outreach.

The 2021 CSLP Supplemental Manual has been completed and added to the online manual. Developed for this transitional time, the supplemental manual includes additional program ideas plus worksheets, reproducibles, and grab-and-go activities for your patrons. Access it from the CSLP Manual Downloads section of the CSLP website: www.cslpreads.org.

The Librarian’s Guide to Homelessness core training purchased by the State Library in 2019 was recently renewed for another year (access through August 2021). Subsequent archived webinars are now available as separate modules in Niche Academy.  The online training, authored by Ryan Dowd, is now available for all Ohio public and academic library staff.

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

State E-rate Coordinator Lorrie Germann will cover the new Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) order which provides additional funds for libraries to purchase connected devices (such as Wi-Fi hotspots and tablets) and broadband connections for use by patrons at locations other than a school or library. ECF is earmarked as E-rate funds, but differs from E-rate in important ways. Lorrie will provide an overview of the program rules and the latest information about how to seek funding for services for the coming funding year July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022.   The webinar will be held Wednesday, June 9, 10:00 AM, and will be recorded for later viewing. Click to HERE to register.

Some of the most difficult navigational terms that can appear on a library's website are the phrases used to refer to databases and digital media. For years, library staff have struggled to figure out what to call these. What makes the most sense to our patrons? There's little or no consistency between library sites, and patrons often don't know what these are, or how they might be different from one another.   In an effort to get an idea of how patrons think about these, we've constructed a very short survey. We're asking every Ohio public library to promote this survey to their patrons through the month of June.

 

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