TBLC News

The October issue of Wavelinks - our member newsletter - is available for your reading pleasure. Please click here!

Nominations are being sought for the 2008 American Library Association (ALA) Recognition Awards and Grants.  Unless otherwise noted, the deadline for awards is Dec. 1, 2007.

Click here for a list of the major ALA awards with the Web sites for application guidelines.

The EBSCO ALA Conference Sponsorship provides ten $1,000 awards for actual reimbursed expenses to help librarians attend ALA’s Annual Conference. To apply for this award, applicants must submit an essay of no more than 250 words addressing the topic:  “How will attending this ALA Conference contribute to my professional development?” The award is donated by EBSCO Subscription Services. 

Requirements
* Applicants must be ALA members
* Applicants must not supervise another professional librarian (MLS).
* All applicants must submit an essay of NO MORE THAN 250 WORDS answering the question: “How will attending this ALA Conference contribute to my professional development?”

Essay Criteria
* Clarity of Content and Form
* Clear Goals and Benefits of Attendance
* Commitment to ALA and the library profession
* Enthusiasm
* Financial Need
* Potential Growth Perceived

For more information and application information please click here.

Ask a Librarian kicked off The Director’s Chair, and we need your help to promote it!

We are asking Florida high school students to flaunt their directorial skills by creating a 30-second video about Ask a Librarian and uploading it to YouTube by Jan. 18, 2008, for the chance to win some awesome prizes.

In order for The Director’s Chair to be a success, we need YOU! Please let teens in your community know about the contest. Here are some suggestions:

• Put up flyers in your libraries. Flyers are available as a PDF (here) or a JPG (here).
• Post the contest logo (available here) on your website.
• Link to The Director’s Chair contest website (www.askalibrarian.org/thedirectorschair) from your website.
• Write a post on your teen blog (feel free to copy and paste the info from our blog post) or simply link to our existing post. 
• Post it on your MySpace and FaceBook pages. Visit Ask a Librarian’s MySpace page and look for The Director’s Chair banner. Simply copy the code beneath the logo and paste it into your MySpace profile for the banner to appear on your MySpace page.

This is a great chance to get our students involved in Ask a Librarian. We hope you’re as excited by the contest as we are, and we thank you for promoting The Director’s Chair!

Visit www.askalibrarian.org/thedirectorschair for more information, including prizes, official rules, YouTube submission info and release forms.

If you have questions, please contact Diana Sachs-Silveira at (813) 622-8252 (ext. 234).

March 18-21, 2008, ER&L provides a forum for information professionals to explore ideas, trends, and technologies related to electronic resources and digital services. 

Proposals for ER&L 2008 are now being accepted.

ER&L Conference Program Planning Committee encourages you to submit a proposal for the Electronic Resources & Libraries 2008 by November 1, 2007.

Click here for more details.

Unshelved presents
Pimp my Bookcart
Sponsored by Highsmith

The contest that set the library world ablaze returns!

Ever since the end of last year’s Pimp My Bookcart contest, people have been coming up with ways to customize, trick out, augment, or otherwise pimp out their bookcarts for 2007. We are more than happy to announce the contest is now officially open, this time sponsored by Highsmith!

Official Pimp My Bookcart Contest Rules

1. Contest is open to libraries, schools, bookstores, businesses and anyone with a bookcart that needs a little something extra
2. Any materials can be used to pimp your cart, pre-bought or home-made accessories are acceptable, just be creative
3. To submit, e-mail pictures of your pimped-out bookcart (front, back, and sides) to Bill & Gene (unshelved@overduemedia.com)
4. By sending in your picture, you agree to let us post your entry on the site and reprint as needed
5. Bill and Gene will pick the winning entries
6. Deadline for entries is October 31st, 2007 so get pimping!

Click here for more information.

Featured CE2U class

The Accidental Technology Trainer
October 17, 11 AM-12 PM PT / 2-3 PM ET
Free via WebJunction’s Live Space
(click for instructions - no registration required)

If you are like most “accidental” library technology trainers, you are expected to take on staff training in your library often with little or no previous experience or instruction. In this month’s Learning Webinar, Stephanie Gerding, author of The Accidental Technology Trainer: A Guide for Libraries, will address the most common concerns of newly minted technology trainers, recommend great tools and techniques, and share helpful advice from her many years coordinating and providing training for libraries of all types around the country.

Click here for more information.

Click here for a list of all CE2U opportunities. TBLC is bringing Continuing Education To You!

The Office of Educational Technology, Florida Department of Education, is offering the following E-RATE WORKSHOPS FOR YEAR 11.  We encourage applicants to bring staff members. 

PLEASE JOIN US FOR ONE OF THE FOLLOWING SESSIONS:

Lake Placid - E-Rate Workshop at Heartland Educational Consortium
1096 US Hwy 27 North Lake Placid, FL 33852
October 30, 2007, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 
Directions:  http://www.heartlanded.org/directions.htm

Gainesville - E-Rate Workshop in Alachua at the Kirby-Smith Center
Conference room E, 620 E. University Ave. Gainesville, FL 32601
October 31, 2007, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

DeFuniak Springs - E-Rate Workshop in Walton County
145 Park Street DeFuniak Springs, FL 32433
November 7, 2007, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 
Directions:  Exit Interstate 10 onto 331 North (if you are coming from Tallahassee area you will take a Right), continue North on 331 until it dead ends at Hwy. 90. Turn R (East) and continue through town. When the four lane ends, take the first R. Cross the Railroad Track, and the Tivoli Complex is located 2 blocks down on the left.

Tallahassee - E-Rate Workshop in Tallahassee
Turlington Building, 325 W. Gaines Street, Conference Room 1706/25 Tallahassee, FL 32399
November 9, 2007, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 

REGISTER ONLINE AT http://data.fldoe.org/register/erate/

The 2007 FL E-Rate Workshops will provide applicants with the latest program updates and guidance based on the USAC training held in Orlando, September 2007.  Each session will cover the same material.  An agenda will be posted next week.

During this time of budget cuts, we realize it may be difficult for you to come to TBLC for workshops and seminars. Therefore, we are bringing Continuing Education to You!

Through CE2U, we can now offer our members FREE online Palinet workshops, worth $60 to $220 per class for non-TBLC members. To ensure your free registration, simply choose “Tampa Bay Library Consortium Member $0.00” from the dropdown menu on the Palinet registration page. 

We also serve as your “one stop shop” for other various free online opportunities, such as NEFLIN teleconferences and SirsiDynix Institute webinars. 

Click here to visit our new CE2U page and find out the convenient and affordable CE opportunities that await you!

(Please note that our CE2U page will always be available through our regular Continuing Education page here.)