TBLC News

Tampa Bay Library Consortium members who order the 2008 Tampa, FL Cross+Search Reverse Phone Directory through TBLC will receive a special discount of 25 percent. This makes the price $318 ($303+$15 shipping).

The Cross+Search Reverse Phone Directory is a printed directory that contains names, phone numbers, addresses and various demographic information for businesses and residents, all organized neatly into two sections, allowing you to search by address or by phone number. 

The price also includes 30 days free on the infoUSAcity.com online reference tool - a nationwide, online version of the printed directory that offers even more up-to-date information.

If you are interested in signing up or if you need more information, contact Amanda Bogard at 866.478.8104 (ext. 3183) or Amanda.Bogard@infoUSA.com.

According to the DeKalb County Public Library’s website, Georgia residents can sign up for a new public library license plate, sponsored by the Georgia Center for the Book. Funds received from the sale of this plate will go to purchase books for Georgia’s public libraries.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could do something like this in Florida?

Friday, November 7, 2008
9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Crowne Plaza
10221 Princess Palm Ave.
Tampa, FL 33610
$30 (includes breakfast & lunch; vegetarian options will be available)

[Register for the Annual Meeting]

We are thrilled to announce that Michael Stephens, Ph.D., will be the keynote speaker at this year’s annual meeting, the theme of which is “Libraries are not made; they grow.”

Michael writes Tame the Web, a blog about libraries, technology and people, and how they intersect. He also collaborates with Michael Casey on The Transparent Library, a monthly Library Journal column about how to bring the concepts of Library 2.0 into the library. Michael is assistant professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Dominican University in River Forest, Ill.

[Register for the Annual Meeting]

After five years of progressive and reliable virtual reference service, Ask a Librarian migrated on Oct. 1 to a software platform provided by InstantService. Ask a Librarian is a free online service that allows Floridians to chat live with a librarian for immediate assistance.

The statewide service has increased in usage by almost 200 percent and in participating libraries by more than 150 percent since its 2003 inception, with strong continued growth expected. InstantService’s range and flexibility provides unlimited support for Ask a Librarian’s growing needs.

“With the level of growth our service has experienced, we are excited to introduce this fantastic – and quite necessary – new software platform,” said Diana Sachs-Silveira, virtual reference manager for Ask a Librarian. “This is a positive change that allows us to provide even better, faster service to our users.”

Visit www.askalibrarian.org for more information about the Ask a Librarian service.

Effective Oct. 1, 2008, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library has withdrawn from the Reciprocal Borrowing program (Bruton Memorial Library and Temple Terrace Public Library are still fully participating). We surveyed our participating libraries to find out who will continue to extend Reciprocal Borrowing privileges to Tampa-Hillsborough’s residents.

Click here to see the results.