SPECIAL MONTHS IN MARCH—  

Celebrate these special months in March with book displays or bulletin boards.

National Nutrition Month  American Dietetic Assn.

National Women’s History Month 

National Umbrella Month. Who invented the Umbrella? Check this out.

National Write a Letter of Appreciation Week March 1-7.

Speaking of letters of appreciation, have you written a letter of thanks to Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White for the 2005 Summer Reading Resource Guide provided to all public libraries through an LSTA grant written by ILA. 

Here is a message from Pat Roche, 2005 IREAD Chair about writing those letters. 

The IREAD Committee is thrilled that the grant worked out as well as it did.  Now we would like you to encourage your youth services librarians to write to Jesse White and thank him for awarding the grant to ILA.  With a letter-writing campaign, we can accomplish these objectives:

• Show appreciation for the grant
• Recognize that he appreciates “all you do to help our children develop a love for reading…”etc. (see his letter in the Resource Guide)
• Indicate how this grant was money well spent by offering examples of how ideas from the Resource Guide will be used in libraries
• Express the hope that this grant has paved the way for future funding
• Stress the importance of IREAD as a grassroots organization
• Suggest that the Office of the Secretary of State continue to support IREAD

 Letters should be addressed to:

Jesse White, Secretary of State and State Librarian
Illinois State Library
Gwendolyn Brooks Building
300 South 2nd Street
Springfield, IL 62701-1796

The envelope and inside address should say Jesse White, Secretary of State and State Librarian

OTHER SPECIAL EVENTS IN MARCH 

Casimir Pulaski Birthday, March 4, 1747

National Poison Prevention week March 20-26

Check out these two web sites www.poisonprevention.org and www.cpsc.gov 

Be sure to wear your green even if you are not Irish on St. Patrick's Day March 17^th.

KNOW KIDDING  

This month the focus is on the various Appendices that are included in the Know Kidding manual.  The first one covers policies and can be used for comparison of your library’s policies and those sample ones included.  The second use is for policies that your library does not currently have such as an Unattended Children policy.  The second Appendix contains system histories and the third important documents such as the ALSC and YALSO Competencies, ALA Library Bill of Rights etc.  Interest Groups are included in the fourth Appendix and include ALSC, IREAD, the ILA Youth Services Forum and more.  The final appendix is “Fun Stuff”. Wwhen you need a laugh, turn here.  Remember Know Kidding can also be found online. 

THE ILLINOIS STUDY

The results are in!  The Illinois Study, conducted by Keith Curry Lance and the RSL Research Group, Colorado, was officially announced on Friday, February 18, 2005 during a press conference at Glen Ellyn.  Here are the findings.

• Research finding #1: Schools with better-staffed libraries have more students who succeed on tests.
• Research finding #2: High schools with computers that connect to library catalogs and databases average 6.2% improvement on ACT scores.
• Research finding #3: Students that visit the library more frequently receive improved reading and writing scores.
• Research finding #4: Students with access to larger, more current book collections achieve higher reading, writing, and ACT scores.

The executive summary and a brochure with information about the study can be downloaded from the ILSMA web site.  Look for the Powerful Libraries Make Powerful Learners logo in orange and blue and the words “The Illinois Study”.

Two teams of librarians, administrators and community members attended a training session sponsored by ILSMA where they were trained on how to spread the message of the Illinois Study.  RPLS will be holding some training sessions for librarians so that they can confidently speak to their administrators, teachers, school boards, parents, and community members about the impact of this study.  Watch for more information.

PER CAPITA GRANT REQUIREMENTS 

Public and School libraries are required to attend a workshop presented by the Illinois State Library titled “Essential Elements” on Interlibrary Loan and delivery for eligibility for the FY 06 Public or School PeR Capita Grants.  Rolling Prairie will be having the workshop on the afternoon of April 22 as part of our annual seminar.  There is no charge for the Seminar if you are only attending this workshop on the day of Seminar. The workshop will also be held on May 10 in both the morning and the afternoon at Rolling Prairie.  To register, go to CLeO.

While private schools are not eligible for the grant, it would be good for them to also send a person to these workshops.

BOOKS IN A SERIES 

Authors write books in series, and our readers want to read every one, and in order, Right?

Of course we never have all the books in the library at one time, so how can you find out about other titles in a series or the correct order?  The answer is to go to one of these five web sites.  They each in their own way provide this information.  Check them out.

www.readersadvice.com
http://www.kdl.org/libcat/whatsnext.asp
http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/readers/series/juv/
http://www.hclib.org/pub/books/iyl/ 
http://myunicorn.com 

How can schools know that the technology used in their schools is making a difference in the way teachers teach and students learn?  An article by Mary Alice Anderson in the December 2004 School Library Journal gives an overview of three online tools to assess your school’s performance.  The article title is “Does Your Tech Program Measure Up? (pages 50-52)

Need more money for your budget?  Want to write a grant but don’t know how or where to start?  If this is you, then Pam Nutt has the answer in her article “Free Cash Giveaway! A Can’t-miss guide to writing winning grants” in the School Library Journal. Feb. 2005, pages 42-44).  Pam walks you through the parts of a grant, gives examples, and clear advice.  Also included is a side bar with six sites to use in helping to locate grant opportunities.  They are

Awesome Library 
The Foundation Center 
GrantsAlert.com   
Michigan State University
Nonprofit Guides   
SchoolGrants 

The winds of March begin to blow
And it is time for kites you know
Here’s the way I make my kite
Watch and help me do it right. 

I cross two sticks so thin and long (cross two pointers)
Tied together good and strong (tying motion)
A string I fasten to each end
And across the middle to make it bend
I measure and cut the paper gay (motion of measuring and cutting)
And paste along the edge this way (pasting motion)
A ball of string to hold my kite (make a circle)
When it sails almost out of site
And here’s my kite all ready to go (make a diamond shape with pointers and thumbs)
Please, March Wind, begin to blow! (blow)

From The Everything Book for Teachers of Young Children by Valerie Indenbaum and Marcia Shapiro, page 276

The Illinois Humanities Council offers a free seminar for Illinois Teachers through their True Learning, True Teaching program.  They have three programs designed for the summer of 2005.

Creating the Illinois Landscape: How Designers Have Shaped Our Environment
America in Vietnam, Vietnam in America.
Time, Trees, Prehistory and the Planet

 For application information and details about the program go to this website.