See You at the NLA Public Library and Trustee Section Spring Meetings!

Nebraska Library Commission staff look forward to joining Nebraska librarians at the upcoming NE Library Association Public Library and Trustee Section Spring Meetings: April 22 in Alliance, April 23 in Kearney, and April 24 in Columbus. Presenter Valerie Gross, President and CEO of the Howard County Library System in Maryland, will help us examine the strategy of aligning our libraries with the educational mission of our communities to help us tell the story of “Who We Are, What We Do, Why It Matters: Why Nebraska Needs Libraries More than Ever!” We’ll be staffing a table to share materials to help you reposition your library as a community education resource and your library staff as educators, including: Books Are Just the Beginning…check out this blog that can direct any Nebraskan to your library and help illustrate the many ways libraries function as educational resources at http://booksarejustthebeginning.com/ Online Self-Directed Education…learn about Skillsoft online classes funded by the Nebraska Library Commission to help train library staff to serve as community educators (http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ce/), United for Libraries (http://www.ala.org/united/nebraska) resources funded by the Nebraska Library Commission for training Trustees/Friends/Foundations, and the Nebraska Library Commission budget request to provide self-directed education programs for all Nebraska residents through their local library (http://nlc.nebraska.gov/stats/online_selfdirected_education_2015.pdf) Nebraska eReads…pick up materials to tell your community about downloadable eBook and audio book resources (http://nlc.nebraska.gov/stats/eReads.pdf) or print your own at http://nlc.nebraska.gov/overdrive/overdriveinfo.aspx#mm Nebraska Memories…find out how these digitized historical and cultural resources can illustrate the role of the library in assisting a variety of learners and researchers of all ages, see http://memories.ne.gov/. NebraskAccess…check out the posters and business cards that you can print with your library password and share with learners in your community to help reinforce the message of how integral libraries are to the community learning environment—customize and print at http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskaccess/promotingdb.aspx Nebraska Public Libraries are Equalizers…see how statistics can be used to tell the story of how your public library responds to the needs in your community and serves specific target audiences with educational resources, along with instructive and enlightening experiences, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/stats/general_2015.pdf NCompass E-Newslist…Keep up with news from the Nebraska Library Commission to help you enhance your library’s visibility by signing up to receive our short weekly email at http://eepurl.com/HSkX