Library in the Omaha Biscuit Factory, 1900-1920.
Nebraska library staff are invited to attend the Plum Creek Children’s Literacy Festival. Originating in 1996 at Concordia University in Seward, NE, the festival is a three-day literacy event for school age children and adults. Participants are provided with an opportunity to interact with nationally acclaimed authors and illustrators. The festival has grown from a one-day, one-author event to a three-day nine-author event. Over 10,000 school-age children and their teachers attend two Children’s Days of the festival at no charge. An adult conference is held the third day, with nine authors and seven literacy experts speaking to approximately 600 attendees. For a short video about the festival and registration links, see www.cune.edu/plumcreek.
Librarians across Nebraska are encouraged to share the information below with the youth of Nebraska and to inspire them to enter the 2014 Hispanic Heritage Month Essay Contest. Each year Nebraskans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.
The day of September 15 is significant because it is the anniversary of independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16 and September 18, respectively. Also, Columbus Day or Día de la Raza, which is October 12, falls within this 30-day period. Please consider setting up a materials display in your library and/or other promotional activities to help you engage with your community.
2014 Hispanic Heritage Month Essay Contest
For our theme, we have chosen quotes from two influential Hispanic leaders: Jaime Escalante and Frida Kahlo. Please choose one of the quotes below and tell us what their words mean to you:
Jaime Escalante: Educator – “One of the greatest things you have in life is that no one has the authority to tell you what you want to be. You’re the one who’ll decide what you want to be. Respect yourself and respect the integrity of others as well. The greatest thing you have is your self-image, a positive opinion of yourself. You must never let anyone take it from you.”
Frida Kahlo: Artist – “I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I’m here, and I’m just as strange as you.”
PRINT FRIENDLY COPY OF THE GUIDELINES
ESSAY: When writing your essay, please answer one or more of these questions: Both quotes deal with self-reflection. How does your heritage and culture reflect who you are as a person? How has society or current events impacted your self-image as an ethnically diverse individual? What do Frida’s or Jaime’s words mean to you and have they influenced your opinion of Hispanic Heritage Month?
ELIGIBILITY: The contest is open to Nebraska students of all ethnicities and backgrounds currently enrolled in a Nebraska public, private or magnet school (grades 6 – 12). Entries are welcome in English or Spanish and must be submitted with an entry form (see attachment)
RULES: Essay content must be original, typed or legibly handwritten, and double spaced. The word length is 250 – 400 words for middle school students and 500 – 700 words for high school students. The Hispanic Heritage Month State Planning Committee reserves the right to disqualify submitted essays that contain offensive language, political messages, and derogatory statements. A blind jury will judge the essays based on writing style, grammar, content and cohesion to the theme.
AWARDS: Cash prizes, certificates, Kindle Nooks, and McDonald’s gift cards will be given to six winners. Winning students will be recognized at the Hispanic Heritage Month State Commemoration, scheduled for October 10, 2014 at the Nebraska State Capitol Building in Lincoln. First place winners will be asked to read their essay at the Commemoration and McDonald’s will publish first place winning essays on their tray liners. The Commission reserves the right to edit essays for fitting purposes.
SUBMISSION: All essays due by Thursday, September 18, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. Essays and entry forms may be submitted by email, preferably as a PDF, to Jasel.Cantu@nebraska.gov, via fax at 402-471-4381 or mailed to:
Nebraska Latino American Commission
Hispanic Heritage Month Essay Contest
P.O. Box 94965
Lincoln, NE 68509-4965
EDUCATORS/LIBRARIANS: For background information and teaching tools on Hispanic Heritage Month, Jaime Escalante and Frida Kahlo, visit the links below:
Hispanic Heritage Month: For teaching materials on Hispanic Heritage Month with links to the Smithsonian, Library of Congress, and more, click here.
Jaime Escalante (1930-2010) was a high school math educator from Bolivia of Aymara ancestry. He achieved fame after introducing and teaching AP Calculus at Garfield High School in Los Angeles, CA in 1978. His students would go on to ace AP Calculus and helped build an exceptional Advanced Placement program in the school. At the height of his influence, Garfield High School graduates would go on to attend the University of Southern California in more numbers than all graduates from the working-class East Los Angeles area combined.
For library and classroom-friendly teaching material, educational videos with interviews, and background information on educator Jaime Escalante, click here. Recommended 1988 film “Stand and Deliver” on Jaime Escalante starring Edward James Olmos, family friendly, rated PG. View trailer.
Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) was a Mexican artist of German and Indigenous ancestry from Mexico City. Her artwork was among the first to include Mexican and Indigenous culture, tradition, and religion. She is also known as the wife of painter Diego Rivera and was influential in his art as well. She is the first contemporary Mexican artist to have artwork displayed at the Louvre in Paris. Her artwork would come to influence modern art and bring attention to the culture and art of Mexico.
For classroom-friendly teaching material, lesson guides, suggested class activities, and background information, click here. Recommended PBS Documentary: “The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo” is also available for free viewing online. NOTE: It is recommended that librarians and educators view the film and observe Kahlo’s paintings first and decide which elements to present in class as a conflicting yet contiguous mix of politics, social unrest, and cross-cultural elements influenced her art and life. For recommended sections of the film with corresponding classroom lessons, click here. A Parent’s Guide and Teacher’s Guide are available for the film from NET and PBS.
The National Network of Libraries of Medicine, MidContinental Region (NN/LM MCR), under contract with the National Library of Medicine, announces the availability of K-12 School Partnership funding.
The MCR plans to fund four awards up to $1,500 in Option Year 3 (May 2014-April 2015):
The Nebraska Learns 2.0 Thing for August is Crowdfunding.
In these days of tight library budgets, sometimes you have a great idea but you don’t have the funds to implement it. If you find yourself in this situation, have you considered trying to crowdfund your idea?
Another facet of Nebraska Learns 2.0 is BookThing. Each month we pick a single title that we feel has relevance to librarianship and/or information theory. Some of the titles will be very obviously related, while others may not seem so on the surface but there is a connection. Your assignment will be to read the book and create a blog post answering some questions about the title.
The BookThing for August is dot complicated by Randi Zuckerberg.
Nebraska Learns 2.0 is the Nebraska Library Commission’s ongoing online learning program. It is a self-discovery program which encourages participants to take control of their own learning and to utilize their lifelong learning skills through exploration and PLAY.
Each month, we offer you an opportunity to learn a new Thing (or lesson). You have all month to complete that Thing and receive one CE credit. You may choose which Things to do based on personal interest and time availability If the Thing of the month doesn’t interest you or if you are particularly busy that month, you can skip it.
If you are new to Nebraska Learns 2.0, your first assignment is to sign up to participate. This program is open to ALL Nebraska librarians, library staff, library friends, library board members and school media specialists.
We hope you’ll join your library colleagues in the fun as you learn about new and exciting technologies!
Join us for next week’s NCompass Live: “#SVYALit Project: Using Young Adult Literature to Talk with Teens About Sexual Violence and Consent”, on Wednesday, August 6, 10:00-11:00 am Central Time.
NLA YART presents Karen Jensen from Teen Librarian Toolbox and her guest, YA author Christa Desir, to discuss using young adult literature to talk with teens about sexual violence and consent.
Project goals:
Upcoming NCompass Live events:
For more information, to register for NCompass Live, or to listen to recordings of past events, go to the NCompass Live webpage.
NCompass Live is broadcast live every Wednesday from 10am – 11am Central Time. Convert to your time zone on the Official U.S. Time website. The show is presented online using the GoToWebinar online meeting service. Before you attend a session, please see the NLC Online Sessions webpage for detailed information about GoToWebinar, including system requirements, firewall permissions, and equipment requirements for computer speakers and microphones.
Have you listened to the NCompass Podcast lately? Here are the episodes from July 2014. To get all of the episodes delivered to you automatically be sure to subscribe via RSS or iTunes.
Episode 291: The 2014 Public Library Accreditation Process: What Do I Need to Know?
Episode 292: Is It Copyrighted? Can I Use It?
Episode 293: Engaging Writers with a Community Novel Project
Episode 294: Opportunity – Collaboration – Engagement: UNL Extension’s Community Vitality Initiative
Episode 295: Tech Talk with Michael Sauers: Branding Your School with Twitter
Ever wonder about the people and the technology behind such groups as Anonymous and LulzSec? Are these folks in it for the fun, or are they in it to change the world? Find out in the wonderfully entertaining book by Parmy Olson.
And, if you’re interested in earning CE credit for reading this title, be sure to check out Nebraska Learns 2.0 on September 1st as this title will be that month’s BookThing.
Olson, Parmy. We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous and the Global Cyber Insurgency. Little Brown & Company, 2012
Book Club for Kids…
If you have thought about starting a book club for kids, or want to rethink your current program design, take a look at this librarian’s approach outlined on her blog Thrive After Three. Lisa Shaia has found something that works well for her community. She shares her weekly time break down and also lists some titles that have worked well for middle grade readers and some titles for tweens/early teen readers. Hope you find something helpful.
The 2014 One Book for Nebraska Teens is Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransome Riggs. The Library Commission has a book club kit librarians can borrow. If it is out when you would like it, we have plenty of other book club kits of previous One Book for Nebraska Kids and One Book for Nebraska Teens. Take a look at the web page for book club kits, or this web page to look at previous One Book for Nebraska Kids or Teens titles.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransome Riggs:
(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers. After review, the books are distributed free, via the Regional Library Systems, to Nebraska school and public libraries.)
The first two minutes from the meetings of the Nebraska Traveling Library Commission (NLC), June 27, 1901 and July 15, 1901.
Do you have some neat historical photos, postcards or documents at home that you think would be good additions to Nebraska Memories? Are you willing to donate them to the Library Commission? If yes, read on.
Most of the content in Nebraska Memories comes from non-profit organizations contributing images of materials that they retain ownership of. Did you know that now we also accept donations of pre-approved historical, Nebraska-related materials from individuals? These items may include photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, and documents such as letters, diaries, deeds, diplomas, and event programs.
We recently added a new collection to Nebraska Memories called Donated Materials which currently includes photographs, postcards, and autograph albums. Click on the Browse this Collection button and click on the thumbnail images to see what we have so far.
The three items shown here were donated by Vicki Witmer, who is credited in the image descriptions as the donor. Two are postcards of landmarks in the town of Havelock Nebraska, which was founded in 1893. The photos were taken in the 1920’s before Havelock was annexed by the city of Lincoln in 1930.
I am fascinated by the turntable in the Burlington Yards postcard., and imagine huge engines rotating on it while being worked on or turned around to begin a new journey in the other direction. 
I can also imagine children of railroad workers, most of whom probably lived in Havelock, walking to the nearby Public School while a parent (likely the father) walked to work at the yards. The school building looks rather forbidding, but many did in those days.
This Dole Studio, Lincoln portrait of Enid and Neil Holt was also taken in the 1920’s. Could they have lived in Havelock? I hope seeing these donated images whets your appetite for helping us tell Nebraska’s story. If you have Nebraska –related historical items that you would like to donate, follow this link for more information. http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/donations.aspx
Visit Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials.
Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Historical Projects Librarian, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.
State government publications ranging from Administrative Services to Nebraska Press, received May and June, 2014.
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/archives/WhatsUpDoc/WUDMayJune2014.pdf
The 2014 Romance Writers of America’s RITA
Awards for best romances of 2013 were presented Saturday night at the RWA Annual Conference. The winners are:
The 2014 RWA Librarian of the Year was Sean Gilmartin, The Anythink Library, Thornton, Colorado.
Join us for next week’s NCompass Live: “Tech Talk with Michael Sauers: Branding Your School w/ Twitter”, on Wednesday, July 30, 10:00-11:00 am Central Time.
Make the power of social media work for your district to tell your story, celebrate your students, and create transparency for stakeholders, as well as create professional development resources for staff and learning networks. Presenter: Cynthia Stogdill: School Librarian at Bellfield/Milliken Park Elementary at Fremont (NE) Public Schools. Tech Nerd, Cat Lover, and Massive Reader. Passionate about teaching research and authentic learning.
In this monthly feature of NCompass Live, the NLC’s Technology Innovation Librarian, Michael Sauers, will discuss the tech news of the month and share new and exciting tech for your library. There will also be plenty of time in each episode for you to ask your tech questions. So, bring your questions with you, or send them in ahead of time, and Michael will have your answers.
Upcoming NCompass Live events:
For more information, to register for NCompass Live, or to listen to recordings of past events, go to the NCompass Live webpage.
NCompass Live is broadcast live every Wednesday from 10am – 11am Central Time. Convert to your time zone on the Official U.S. Time website. The show is presented online using the GoToWebinar online meeting service. Before you attend a session, please see the NLC Online Sessions webpage for detailed information about GoToWebinar, including system requirements, firewall permissions, and equipment requirements for computer speakers and microphones.
Gilbert’s story of her travels in Italy, India, and Indonesia searching for renewal and enlightenment originally came out in 2006 to acclaim (it was the New York Times Notable Book of the Year). Generally, tales of other people’s spiritual quests set my skepticism meter aquiver, and I didn’t read the book, or see the movie back when. But I’m an audiobook buff, and I was looking for something a little different, so I decided to try it. Gilbert reads the book herself, a real asset for such a personal, first person story. Her unaffected enthusiasm and her way with words are winning me over.
Gilbert, Elizabeth. Eat Pray, Love: one woman’s search for everything across Italy, India and Indonesia. Penguin Audio, 2006. CD.
Exterior photo of the Carnegie Grand Island Public Library. Notice the dirt roads around the building.
The Summer 2014 issue of the NE Community Foundation newsletter, Connections, has a nice piece on the library projects funded through the Kreutz Bennett Donor-Advised Fund (see page 5: http://www.nebcommfound.org/media/docs/NCF_Newsletter_Summer_2014_Correct_Web.pdf).
This spring more than $80,000 was awarded to libraries in Culbertson, David City, Deshler, Elgin, Exeter, Minden, Red Cloud and Walthill. Recently, the Hildreth Public Library completed its yearlong renovation project which doubled the size of the library, improved the interior, and added an accessible restroom.
This newsletter article is a great reminder to Nebraska public libraries located in communities of fewer than 3,000 residents that now is a good time to begin thinking about appying for a grant for 2015. Grants will be made in three areas: Planning Grants (leading to accreditation); Enhancement Grants (leading to improvement of library services and/or programs); and Facilities Grants (contributing toward new facilities or the renovation, restoration or rehabilitation of current libraries). Community leadership must be exhibited in grant applications indicating the likelihood of sustainability of improvements.
Short applications received on or before October 1, 2014 will be considered for the grant cycle awarded in March 2015. If approved, the full application is due 5:00 p.m. on January 5, 2015.
More information is available at http://www.nebcommfound.org/media/docs/Grant_Guidelines_2015.pdf or contact Reggi Carlson, 402-323-7331 or rcarlson@nebcommfound.org.
Join us for next week’s NCompass Live: “Opportunity – Collaboration – Engagement: UNL Extension’s Community Vitality Initiative”, on Wednesday, July 23, 10:00-11:00 am Central Time.
The future is before us! The opportunity exists for innovative collaborations to help Nebraska communities expand their capacity to be vibrant, prosperous places where people want to live and raise their families. A new University initiative, Community Vitality Initiative (CVI), brings partners together throughout the state. CVI engages organizations and communities in three areas:
•Creating 21st Century Communities
•Developing and/or Growing Business
•Engaging Youth and Young Adult
The presentation will provide an opportunity to discuss local and statewide collaboration, engagement and involvement!
The University of Nebraska is a land grant institution committed to serving Nebraskans through research, education and engagement (or Extension).
Presenters: Connie Hancock, Connie Reimers-Hild, and Kim Bearnes; UNL Extension
Upcoming NCompass Live events:
For more information, to register for NCompass Live, or to listen to recordings of past events, go to the NCompass Live webpage.
NCompass Live is broadcast live every Wednesday from 10am – 11am Central Time. Convert to your time zone on the Official U.S. Time website. The show is presented online using the GoToWebinar online meeting service. Before you attend a session, please see the NLC Online Sessions webpage for detailed information about GoToWebinar, including system requirements, firewall permissions, and equipment requirements for computer speakers and microphones.
Recently we added two autograph albums to Nebraska Memories. The albums belonged to May Martin Ellis and her husband John Ellis. They contain many handwritten inscriptions with the majority of inscriptions dating from the late 1800’s. While it is fun to read the inscriptions it can also be a challenge to read some of the handwriting. We would like to remove this challenge by providing a typed transcription of each page. Typing the transcriptions is a bit of a daunting task however because there are about 150 pages between the two albums and each page was written by a different person. The quality of handwriting varies from page to page so some are easy to read while others take a bit more effort.
To help with the task of transcribing these albums we wanted to try using crowdsourcing. If you are not familiar with crowdsourcing in this context it is a way to divide up the labor of transcribing the text among a group of people who are willing to give a few minutes of their time to the project. This is not a new concept but it is the first time we are trying it and hope you will be willing to help us.
What do you get out of helping with this project? To start with you get the enjoyment of reading a page or two in the autograph books. While I haven’t read all of the pages yet here is one inscription that I found amusing. This is from page 42 of May’s album.
Dear Friend May:
Remember me and my best wishes
When far away washing dishes.
From your friend.
Eva Miller.
July 26th 1885.
Second, by helping to create a typed transcription we are making both the inscriptions and the name of the person who wrote them legible, searchable and findable. After the pages have been transcribed we will add the transcribed text to the corresponding album page in Nebraska Memories.
Third, if your relatives lived in Nebraska during the late 1800’s maybe you will find an inscription they wrote. Many of the inscriptions include both a date and place name. Some of the place names I’ve seen include: Alliance, Box Butte, Genoa, Hemingford, Osceola, and Grand Lake (According to information on the Nebraska State Historical Site’s webpage Grand Lake was located near Alliance.)
If you are up to the challenge here is how you can help. We have set up a Google form for each album so we can easily collect the transcribed text and then display the text in a corresponding spreadsheet. You do not need a Google account to help us. Everything you do is anonymous. We have no way of tracking who has helped us with this project. Here is what you need to get started.
Links That You Will Need – Please make sure you read the instructions below.
May Martin Ellis Album
UPDATE: Thanks to everyone’s help the May Martin Ellis Album is done.
Album: http://memories.nebraska.gov/cdm/ref/collection/donated/id/127
Spreadsheet: http://goo.gl/ZVFXwx
Form: http://goo.gl/ebYc52
John Ellis Album
UPDATE: Thanks to everyone’s help the John Ellis Album is done.
Album: http://memories.nebraska.gov/cdm/ref/collection/donated/id/178
Spreadsheet: http://goo.gl/TOvyi2
Form: http://goo.gl/D2rDfx
Instructions
If you cannot read a word, letter or are unsure of something please put a question mark in the transcription at the point you have the question. The question mark will be a signal to us that someone else will need to look at that text. For example if I was transcribing page 20 of John’s book there is a line where I would need to insert a question mark because I’m not sure what is written between the word in and albums. In the form I would enter: If scribbling in ? Albums:
Some folks wrote at all kinds of odd angles. You may need to rotate or zoom in on the text to make it easier to read. Use the buttons on the toolbar above the image to do this. Put the text in the order you think is most logical.
Now that you have spent five minutes reading this I hope you will be willing to spend 5 more minutes transcribing a page or two in the albums. You never know what funny saying you may transcribe.
Thank for your help. If you have any questions please leave a comment or send me an email.
Visit Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials.
Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Historical Projects Librarian, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.
