SJRLC Connections

Congratulations to the Vineland Public Library on receiving the $10,000 Libraries and Families Award

Congratulations to the Vineland Public Library!

 

Congrats to the Vineland Public library on receiving the $10,000 Libraries and Families Award from the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) and Better World Books (BWB), in recognition of their work in promoting literacy awareness. 

See the complete story in Library Journal:  

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6727315.html 

CONGRATS TO MOVER SHAKERS: ANDY WOODWORTH AND PEGGY CADIGAN!

CONGRATS TO MOVER SHAKERS: ANDY WOODWORTH AND PEGGY CADIGAN!

A hearty congratulations to Andy Woodworth (Burlington County Library) and Peggy Cadigan (NJ State Library) on their recognitions as Library Journal Mover/Shakers for 2010!  

• Direct link to: Andy's Profile  (and check out his great blog, Agnostic, Maybe)
• Direct link to: Peggy's Profile

And congrats to all the worthy Mover/Shakers who were recognized this year.  Read everyone's profiles online at: http://stage.libraryjournal.com/MS2010.

GARDEN STATE CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARDS: 2010 AWARDS ANNOUNCED

 GARDEN STATE CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARDS
2010 AWARDS ANNOUNCED

 

The Children's Services Section of the New Jersey Library Association announces the following recipients of the 2010 Garden State Children's Book Award:

 

EASY-TO-READ BOOK

Today I Will Fly

 by Mo Willems

 

EASY-TO-READ SERIES BOOK

There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Fly Guy

by Tedd Arnold

 

FICTION, GRADES 2 - 5

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

by Jeff Kinney

 

NON-FICTION, GRADES 2 - 5

Owen and Mzee: The Language of Friendship

By Craig Hatkoff, Isabella Hatkoff, and Dr. Paula Kahumba

Photographs by Peter Greste

 

The Garden State Children's Book Awards were established in 1977 in order to give recognition to books for elementary grade readers.  The nominees are selected by a committee of the Children's Services Section of the New Jersey Library Association on the basis of literary merit; the winners are chosen by popularity with readers. 

A three-year lapse from the original publication date is allowed in order to determine popularity.  The awards are given in three categories, with the option of one additional series category:  a work specifically designated as "easy-to-read" by the publisher; a work of fiction for grades 2 - 5; a work of non-fiction for grades 2 - 5. 

Awards, presented annually at the NJLA spring conference, are given to both the author and the illustrator.  This year's conference will be held at the Ocean Place Conference Center in Long Branch, from April 26 - 28 with the awards presentation on Wednesday, April 28, 2010.

For further information, visit the NJLA website at www.njla.org, or contact Melissa Okerblom, Chair, Garden State Children's Book Awards Committee, by phone at  973-887-5150 ext. 231 or email at Melissa.okerblom [at] parsippanylibrary.org  

New Jersey State Library Wins John Cotton Dana Public Relations Award

Congrats to the New Jersey State Library!

The American Library Association announced that the New Jersey State Library is the recipient of the 2010  John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award, which recognizes and honors outstanding achievement in library public relations. It is considered to be the most prestigious of all library awards in the field of public relations. The State Library received the award for its “Tell Us Your Story” library campaign that motivated and mobilized staff from 240 New Jersey libraries to identify messages and cultivate customer stories. Those stories were used locally and in a statewide multi-media campaign that reached millions of people, including elected officials. The campaign provided a marketing toolkit to participating libraries and established a library communication network linking more than 500 users.

“Our ‘Tell Us Your Story’ campaign came at a critical time,” said Norma Blake, New Jersey State Librarian. “According to a NJ Library Association survey, many librarians felt that marketing was not very important. When the recession hit, that changed. Faced with a combination of funding cuts and huge increases in demand from families in financial crisis, our libraries had to adopt tactics to get support from their customers. This campaign trained librarians in marketing techniques and got their customers involved through story telling.”

The campaign was conceived as a result of the Online Computer Library Center’s study From Awareness to Funding: A Study of Library Support in America, which showed that most people have no idea how libraries are funded. Because of that, they were not aware of the growing financial pressures facing libraries that would result in service/program reductions. New Jersey libraries were facing cuts in state aid and legislation that would reduce funding at the local level, as well. Libraries needed to work with their supporters to stave off funding, service and program cuts at a time when users were demanding more services.

“This campaign received widespread support from library customers of all ages,” said Nancy Dowd, the State Library’s Director of Marketing, a Ewing resident. “Librarians learned what the business world has known all along, that marketing is important for continued success and growth. They also learned that their customers have compelling stories about the value of libraries that they are very willing to share and have a powerful voice with elected officials.”

“Our public relations materials and our customers’ stories helped create an awareness of the important role libraries serve in their communities,” said Gary Cooper, public relations and news media contact for the State Library, a resident of South Brunswick. “That awareness helped gain them the support of reporters, the media, public officials and, most importantly, their local taxpayers.”  

The John Cotton Dana (JCD) honor has been awarded continuously since 1946 and is sponsored by the H.W. Wilson Company, the H.W. Wilson Foundation and the Library Leadership and Management Association, a division of the American Library Association. “In these challenging economic times effective marketing techniques are essential to communicate the many valuable services and programs provided by libraries to meet the increasing needs of their customers,” said Linda Holtslander, JCD committee chair. “The committee was impressed by the high quality of [this] public relations campaign.”

Winners of the 2010 Garden State Teen Book Awards

News from Laura Leonard, Hillsdale Public Library...

The winners of the 2010 Garden State Teen Book Awards have just been announced!

Fiction grades 6-8: 

• Winner: Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
• Tied for Second: Skullduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landy and Wednesday Wars  by Gary D Schmidt

Fiction grades 9-12:

• Winner: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher T
• Second: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Alexie Sherman
• Third: Repossessed by A.M. Jenkins

Non-fiction grades 6-12:

• Winner: Houdini the Handcuff King by Jason Lutes
• Second: How to Survive a Horror Movie by Seth Grahame-Smith
• Third: The Encyclopedia Horrifica by Joshua Gee

Thanks to all 61 libraries that collected votes and/or encouraged teens to vote online!

Keep an eye out for the 2011 GSTBA ballot in early April.

--
Laura Leonard, Hillsdale Public Library

Congratulations to the winners of the 2009 One Book New Jersey Program Contest!

News from Kate Vasilik, 2009 Chair, One Book New Jersey
www.onebooknewjersey.org

Congratulations to the winners of the 2009 One Book New Jersey Program Contest!

This past year, the One Book New Jersey Committee offered a terrific opportunity for libraries throughout the state to be recognized for strong programming efforts.  Programs were evaluated based on originality, publicity materials, community outreach efforts, and replication possibilities. 

This year’s entries highlighted programs for each of the four OBNJ selections and spanned a wide range of events including book discussions, story hours, scavenger hunts, contests, writing and science programs.  A great “thank you” goes out to all of those who participated in this Program Contest and who offered One Book New Jersey programming in your libraries throughout the year.

And the winners are:

• Barnegat Branch of the Ocean County Library, submitted by Lisa Taylor, for a five-week summer program series featured Marley : A Dog Like No Other.  

• Metuchen Public Library, submitted by Kathy Liss, for a Life As We Knew It Disaster Party for teens.

• Long Branch Free Public Library, submitted by Lisa Kelly, for a passionate book discussion of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

For full details of the winning programs and for more information about One Book New Jersey, access our website in January: www.onebooknewjersey.org.

On behalf of the OBNJ Committee, thank you all for your participation of OBNJ and all NJLA efforts,

Kate Vasilik, 2009 Chair, One Book New Jersey
www.onebooknewjersey.org

Garden State Children's Book Award

News from, Audra Osorio, Vice Chairperson,Garden State Children's Book Award Committee

The Garden State Children's Book Award Committee would like to encourage New Jersey school and public libraries to make the children's votes count! 

 

For the official tally sheet and ballot for the 2010 Award Winners, as well as information on where to send your library's winning results, please see the following link on the NJLA website: http://njla.pbworks.com/f/gscbaballot10.pdf

 

If your library has set up a display and ballot box for the 2010 nominees, please tally up the three most popular titles in each of the four categories (Easy Reader, Easy Reader Series, Fiction and Non-Fiction) and send your library's winning results to the committee by Friday, January 1, 2010. 

 

If your library has not set up a display and ballot box for the 2010 nominees, your library can still participate by using your library's circulation statistics to determine the three most popular titles in each of the four categories and send your library's winning results to the committee by Friday, January 1, 2010. 

 

For information on the Garden State Children's Book Award, the 2010 Ballot and Past Winners, please see the following link on the NJLA website:

http://njla.pbworks.com/Garden-State-Children's-Book-Awards.

 

If your library did create a display of the 2010 GSCBA nominees and would like to share pictures of it with us, or if you have any questions, please email us at GSCBACom[at]gmail.com.

 

Thank you!

Audra Osorio, Vice Chairperson

Garden State Children's Book Award Committee

State Library Honored for Communications Excellence

via the NJ State Library Newsletter.  Congrats Nancy and Gary!

State Library Honored for Communications Excellence

At the 35th Annual JASPER Awards presentation on Friday, October 9, 2009, the NJ State Library received two awards for excellence in communications.

The statewide "Tell Us Your Story Marketing Campaign" received the Gold Award in Public Relations for an Integrated Communications Campaign.

Receiving the Silver Award in Television/Video for TV Campaign with 2 or more commercials was the "Libraries Value in a Down Economy" commercials aired on NJN.

Accepting the awards were Nancy Dowd, Director of Marketing, and Gary Cooper, Public Relations & News Media Contact. Cooper also received a Gold Award in speechwriting.

The awards were presented by the Jersey Shore Public Relations & Advertising Association at the Robert Meyner Reception Center, PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel.

Congrats to Cape May, West Deptford and Mount Laurel Libraries!

A big congratulations to the Cape May County Library, the West Deptford Public Library, and the Mount Laurel Library, for their recognition in the New Jersey State Library’s “Tell Us Your Story” video contest.  A gala event recognizing all winners will be held tomorrow, September 15 in the NJ State Museum auditorium in Trenton.

The Cape May County Library placed first in the contest with their entry, "Get Your Game On, At Your Library" viewable at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKUjw6Ayrus.   As the winner, the Cape May County Library will receive a door-to-door session from StoryCorps. StoryCorps’ team of professional sound technicians will record interviews of community members selected by the library. One of those stories will be chosen and professionally edited into an audio soundtrack such as those heard on National Public Radio.

Second Place honors went to the West Deptford Public Library for "Hector's Story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZtwgZUnDNs , and the Mount Laurel Library received an Honorable Mention for "Brett's Story": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdOgu6cPwrs.   Congratulations also to Cranbury, Ocean County, South Orange and West Orange libraries who will also be honored at the September 15th ceremony.

The statewide storytelling campaign was launched by the State Library and the NJ Library Association in October 2008 to interest and inspire libraries to collect stories from their customers about their library experiences, and create compelling digital stories that portrayed libraries as transformative. The contest ended in June. Over 250 school and public libraries from across New Jersey participated in the “Tell Us Your Story” campaign.

Cape May County Library: "Get Your Game On, At Your Library"

West Deptford Public Library: "Hector's Story"

Mount Laurel Library: "Brett's Story"

Four NJ Librarians named LJ Movers and Shakers

SJRLC wishes to congratulate the four librarians from New Jersey recently named as Library Journal Movers and Shakers! This year’s New Jersey honorees are: Susan Conlon and Allison Santos, Princeton Public Library Just Say Yes They started at Princeton Public Library (PPL) within two years of each other, and their impact on children’s and teen services has been nothing short of astonishing. When Susan Conlon began her current position as teen services librarian at PPL in 2002, teen/YA programming was scarce. Having learned from a previous career in sales that saying yes to new ideas could foster exciting new opportunities, she made it a habit in her new job to say “yes.” - full story Laverne Mann, Mercer County Library System, Ewing A Player At the Ewing Branch of the Mercer County Library System, reference librarian and computer trainer Laverne Mann channels her geek fandom and tech-savvy to create lively events, writer workshops, and a vastly enhanced collection of graphic novels. In the last six years, Mann has expanded Ewing’s graphic novel collection from just three items to hundreds of volumes, thanks to her extensive contacts with writers, artists, and comics publishers; she’s so passionate about the genre that she’s been coordinating the MidJersey ComicCon convention in Bordentown since 2005. Full story Carlie Webber, Bergen County Cooperative Library System Smarter Than Hermione Carlie Webber has a “dirty secret”: “I never really grew out of reading children’s and YA literature,” she says. It’s led to her success as a YA librarian and a nationally recognized—and often attitudinous—voice on YA lit, with Bergen County Cooperative Library System (BCCLS) programs like “Harry Potter for Grownups” and “YA Boot Camp 2.0.” Full story