CTLS, Inc.

Libraries See Books Fly Off Digital Shelves

Thanks to Christina Manz for sending us this link:

Judy (Temple) and Lisa (Harker Heights) are in a news segment talking about their libraries’ ebook lending. Lots of great information for borrowers and the library-publisher relationship packed in just 2 minutes.

Murder Mystery at Harker Heights Library

Lisa Youngblood from Harker Heights Public Library talks about putting on a murder mystery for teens. Lisa is a coauthor of the chapter “The Body in the Billiard Room” found in the Texas Teens Read! Manual 2012.

ALA Youth Media Awards Announcement

Today the ALA announced the winners and honorees of the Youth Media Awards at the Midwinter Meeting in Dallas, TX. See the webcast here or view the list here! Congrats to all the winners and honorees!

Notice of CTLS January 2012 Board meeting

Notice of a regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the
CENTRAL TEXAS LIBRARY SYSTEM, Inc.
Friday, January 27, 2012
1:30 p.m.

Temple Public Library, 100 West Adams
Temple, Texas 76501

Notice is hereby given of a regular meeting of the Board of Directors on January 27, 2012, at 1:30 p.m. at the Temple Public Library, 3rd Floor Board Room, 100 W Adams, Temple, Texas. The public is invited to attend the meeting which starts at 1:30 p.m. and will conclude after all business has been conducted. The items below are for discussion and/or action:

1:30 p.m.

I.   Call to Order of the Board of Directors of CTLS, Inc. – Peggy Gibson, Chair
of CTLS, Inc.
II.   Minutes of the November 2011 Board Meetings Lyle Thormann, CTLS Secretary
III.   Election of Board Officers for 2012 Peggy Gibson, Chair of CTLS, Inc.
IV.   Presentation of the FY 2011 financial audit
V.   Treasurer’s Report- Eileen Altmiller, CTLS Treasurer
VI.   Executive Director’s Report – Pat Tuohy, CTLS Executive Director
VII.   Old Business
VIII.   New Business
IX.   Board Concerns and Issues

4:00 p.m. Adjournment

Meeting Protocol in effect for this meeting:

From the Board of Directors Meeting Protocol Policy, adopted March 20, 2007:

VII. Participants in on-site and telephone conference call Board meeting shall observe the following rules:
1.         Participation in Board meetings is limited to the Board of Directors of CTLS and to individuals who have signed up to speak on specific issues on the agenda.
2.         Board members are the official participants in the meeting and as such will engage in discussion following the rules of order as enforced by the Board Chair.
3.         Staff members may comment when requested to do so by the Chair. They may inject comments with the permission of the Chair in order to clarify a point or to convey necessary information during the meeting.
4.         The Chair will call on individuals who wish to address the Board on either specific agenda items or other concerns immediately following the call to order.
5.         The Chair will determine equitable time limits for the speakers.
6.         Members of the public are not official participants and considered out of order if they make comments at random during the meeting.
7.         The Board may choose to have a regular item or period of public comment at a board meeting. This will be clearly indicated on the posted meeting agenda.
8.         An individual may not address the Board a second time on the same issue unless all others who wish to comment have done so, and only with the consent of the Board chair.

Partnerships and Collaborations in Public Library Communities

We recently got a new title in our professional collection that was edited by our very own Karen Ellis of the Taylor Public Library! It has already been checked out but place a hold on it using our Professional Collection if you are interested in getting it next!

There is a chapter by another Central Texas librarian, Kathleen Houlihan from Austin Public Library. Karen says she had lots of help with editing chapters by other Central Texas librarians as well. Karen says that there are many great examples in the books of how public libraries got creative using partnerships to extend services and programming in unique ways, to the benefit of all involved.

Check it out!

Larry Ringer Answers Questions from Members about the Proposed Bylaws

Along with your Christmas mail, all CTLS Representatives received a large packet
from our office during the 2nd week of December. This heavy envelope contained 3
Bylaws connected documents that relate to the vote that will be held on January 27th
in Temple. The first document was the current CTLS Bylaws adopted in 2010. This
was heavily highlighted in yellow so that you could see all the deletions and changes
we made. The second document was the Proposed Bylaws that the Bylaws Committee
developed in response to CTLS’s rapidly changing financial situation. The third
document was a draft of the CTLS Operations Manual which is a companion document
to the Proposed Bylaws. I am sure that this made enjoyable reading for everyone
over the holidays.

I am pleased to report that we received some feedback from Representatives about
the Proposed Bylaws. The comments helped us clarify some definitions and we are
grateful to the members who took the time to review our work. The copy included in
your membership meeting packets reflects these suggestions.

We also received some general questions about the direction we are heading that I
would like to answer here.

Liberty Hill Computer Class with DLC laptops

The Liberty Hill Library has partnered with the Resource Center in order to use meeting space to provide much asked for basic computer classes as well as GED and ESL classes. They are looking forward to working together on many projects to benefit the community of Liberty Hill. This picture is from a two session class, MOUSE 101 and BASIC EMAIL. The classes were a success and a man in his 80′s even signed up for an email account. For more info about checking out the laptops for your class contact Zak Roussel or to simply check them out visit our Catalog and search for laptop.

New 2x2 Titles announced!

Check out this year’s 2×2 titles from TLA, 700 titles whittled to 20 to showcase the best in books for children 2 years old to 2nd grade.

Ashman, Linda. No Dogs Allowed! Illustrated by Kristin Sorra. Sterling. ISBN 978-1-4027-5837-9. $14.95. Ages 4-8. Welcome to Alberto’s restaurant…unless you’re a dog, a cat, a bunny, or ANYTHING with fur, feathers, or scales!

Beaumont, Karen. No Sleep for the Sheep! Illustrated by Jackie Urbanovic. Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-15-204969-0. $16.99. Ages 4-7. A sheep wants nothing but to go to sleep in the big red barn on the farm, but each time he closes his eyes, another animal moos or neighs to come in.

Chabon, Michael. The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man. Illustrated by Jake Parker. Balzer+Bray. ISBN 978-0-06-191462-1. $17.99. Ages 5-8. A young superhero describes his awesome powers, which he then demonstrates as various foes arrive on the scene.

Crosby, Jeff. Wiener Wolf. Disney Hyperion. ISBN 978-1423413983-6. $15.99. Ages 4-7. Wiener dog’s easy life has lost its luster. So when the call of the wild comes, he answers! Weiner Dog becomes…Weiner Wolf.

Crum, Shutta. Mine! Illustrated by Patrice Barton. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-375-86711-8. $16.99. Ages 2-5. Two young children and a dog learn about the troubles and triumph of sharing.

Czekaj, Jef. Cat Secrets. Balzer+Bray. ISBN 978-0-06-192088-2. $16.99. Ages 3-6. Important secrets about how best to live a cat’s life will be revealed only to those who can prove that they are genuine cats.

Ehlert, Lois. Rrralph. Beach Lane. ISBN 978-1-4424-1305-4. $17.99. Ages 2-5. The narrator describes discovering how Ralph the dog can talk, appropriately saying such words as “roof”, “rough”, “bark,” and “wolf”.

Gormley, Greg. Dog in Boots. Illustrated by Roberta Angaramo. Holiday House. ISBN 978-0-8234-2347-7. $17.95. Ages 4-8. After reading “Puss in boots”, a young dog decides to try a variety of shoes, only to find the perfect footwear is right under his nose.

Hall. Michael. Perfect Square. Greenwillow. ISBN 978-0-06-191513-0. $16.99. Ages 4-8. A perfect square is torn, punched with holes, and crumpled but finds with each transformation that it can be something new and just as happy.

Hoppe, Paul. The Woods. Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-0-8118-7547-9. $16.99. Ages 4-7. Being afraid of the dark doesn’t mean being afraid alone. When a boy can’t find his favorite stuffed bunny, he bravely heads into the woods to look for it.

Judge, Lita. Red Sled. Atheneum. ISBN 978-1-4424-2007-6. $16.99. Ages 2-8. At night, a host of woodland creatures plays with a child’s red sled.

Klassen, Jon. I Want My Hat Back. Candlewick Press. ISBN 978-0-7636-5598-3. $15.99. Ages 4-8. A bear almost gives up his search for his missing hat until he remembers something very important.

Kosteciki-Shaw, Jenny Sue. Same, Same But Different. Henry Holt. ISBN 978-0-8050-8946-2. $16.99. Ages 4-8. Pen pals, Elliott and Kailish discover that even though they live in different countries they both love to climb trees, own pets, and ride school buses.

McDonnell, Patrick. Me…Jane. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0-316-04546-9. $15.99. Ages 3-8. Holding her stuffed toy chimpanzee, young Jane Goodall observes nature, reads Tarzan books, and dreams of living in Africa and helping animals.

Niemann, Christoph. That’s How! Greenwillow. ISBN 978-0-06-201963-9. $16.99. Ages 2-5. A very imaginative boy answers a girl’s questions about how different kinds of vehicles work.

Ray, Mary Lyn. Stars. Illustrated by Marla Frazee. Beach Lane. ISBN 978-1-4424-2249-0. $16.99. Ages 4-6. Explore the wonder of stars, whether they are in the night sky, on a plant as a promise of fruit to come, or in one’s pocket for days when one does not feel shiny.

Rinker, Sherri Duskey. Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site. Illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld. Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-0-8118-7782-4. $16.99. Ages. 2-8. At sunset, when their work in done for the day, a crane truck, a cement mixer, and other people pieces of construction equipment make their way to their resting places to go to sleep.

Rocco, John. Blackout. Disney Hyperion. ISBN 978-142312190-0. $16.99. Ages 4-8. A boy and his family find magic in a summer blackout.

Stevens, April. Edwin Speaks Up. Illustrated by Sophie Blackall. Schwartz & Wade. ISBN 978-0-375-85337-1. $16.99. Ages 4-8. Before his family leaves the grocery store, Baby Edwin makes sure their grocery cart contains the last ingredient needed to make his birthday celebration complete.

Vamos, Samantha R. The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred. Illustrated by Rafael López. Charlesbridge. ISBN 978-1-58089-242-1. $17.95. Ages 5-8. A cumulative tale of a farm maiden who, aided by a group of animals, prepares “Arroz con Leche”, rice pudding.

TALL Texans Applications Due January 27

Here’s the scoop from Ted Wanner at TLA:

Texas libraries are facing a need for leaders at all levels. The TLA TALL Texans Leadership Development Institute teaches leadership and management skills that can dramatically transform your role at your library, your community, and in the profession. Three critical things to know about TALL Texans:

1. The cost is not prohibitive. In a typical year, over 90% of libraries pay the full registration fees for their employees. Even if a city declines to cover the full amount, TLA divisions, districts, and round tables have set aside thousands of dollars to support members selected for TALL Texans. Registration covers all classroom materials & instruction AND basic room & board, so out of pocket costs to the individual are usually very small. Applicants have also found scholarships from external vendors like EBSCO and HEB.
2. The benefits are enormous. Participants will receive advanced instruction in critical topics like strategic and tactical planning, communication, collaboration, teambuilding, conflict resolution, ethics, and advocacy. The curriculum combines advanced theory for these topics as well as practical applications. Learn how to be better at what you do now and how to find new avenues to success at your library.
3. The deadline for applications is January 27 for the 2012 Institute, which will take place on June 10-13 at the Montserrat Retreat Center in Lake Dallas, Texas.

If you are a mid-career public librarian (that is, you have at least five years’ experience working in libraries) and if you want to take your job to the next level, please check out the online application form at www.txla.org/TALL-texans-apply. These questions target your professional and educational background, your previous leadership experiences, and your career goals. For more details, please visit the TALL Texans Institute web site at www.txla.org/talltexans.

Pflugerville Ground Breaking

The Pflugerville Public Library had a lot of help on January 12 breaking ground on its long awaited expansion project. Braving a cold and bitter wind city dignitaries, library supporters, and children turned the symbolic “first shovel of dirt” to kick off this year-long construction project. The current library (opened in 1999) will go from its current 12,000 sq. ft to 28,000 sq.ft. Congratulations to Pflugerville Library and all its supporters for a fantastic accomplishment.