New Jersey State Library

The New Jersey State Library has been selected to direct a partnership between the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities and four public libraries to participate in the expansion of the LEH’s award-winning family reading and discussion program, Prime Time Family Reading Time®, which will target Spanish-speaking families this year.

The State library is working with Princeton Public Library, Parsippany-Troy Hills Public Library System, Kearny Public Library and Paterson Free Public Library in New Jersey. The national expansion of “Prime Time Family Reading Time” is made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Full Story

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The New Jersey State Library is partnering with Union County College, New Jersey State Employment and Training Commission and Rutgers University as part of a national pilot project designed to increase the capacity of public libraries to serve adult learners in developing their literacy skills.

Built around Learner Web, an innovative software program in the final stages of development, the project will allow adult learners to engage in self-directed, self paced instruction making it appealing, comfortable and feasible for most working adults to use in developing their literacy skills. The Learner Web project also seeks to foster collaboration between libraries and community agencies in support of adult learners with basic skills needs. Full Story

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The New Jersey State Library and INFOLINK are pleased to announce the winners of the statewide comic and YouTube video contest. Courtney Wu of Basking Ridge, NJ won for her 30 panel comic on the Bernardsville Public Library. Elena Ordille of Hammonton, NJ won for her YouTube video on the Atlantic County Library/West in Hammonton. Over 17,000 votes were cast!

Links:
Full Story
Contest Page
Photos
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Disasters come in all shapes and sizes, from natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes to emergencies like fire, leaking roofs, and mold. An emergency can easily spiral into a disaster if you, and your institution are not prepared to respond. The State Library encourages all libraries to take part in a free, full day workshop: “A Matter of When, Not If… Preventing and Preparing for Library Disasters”. This outstanding workshop will be presented by the Northeast Document Conservation Center at four locations during May.

Contact: Michele Stricker at mstricker@njstatelib.org

Links:
Flyer with dates
Registration
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The New Jersey State Library is partnering with Barnes & Noble and the New Jersey Library Association to sponsor “Love Your Library” month in February 2008 to once again help fund the Statewide Summer Reading Program at all public libraries in New Jersey.

Barnes & Noble will donate a percentage of every sale from every customer who presents a book fair voucher at any Barnes and Noble store in New Jersey during the month of February. The funds raised from this month-long event will benefit the children and young adults who participate in the 2008 Summer Reading Program.

Links:
Full Story
Get a Voucher
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The New Jersey State Library is delighted to announce that State Librarian
Norma Blake has been selected by Library Journal magazine as their 2008
Librarian of the Year! She will be honored at this week’s American Library
Association Conference in Philadelphia, as well as have her picture on the
front cover of their mid-January issue along with an interview Library
Journal editors conducted with her last month.

To read Library Journal’s article go here

Voting ended on December 31 and over 17,000 votes were cast. We will be announcing the winners this month!

The State Library has been working with INFOLINK to sponsor a YouTube/Comic Contest. Young adults up to the age of 18 were able to submit a comic or video.

• Staff members from LBH were on hand at the Trustee Institute to demonstrate assistive technology software and devices to help people who are blind and visually impaired. LBH staff is available to present a variety of informational programs in cooperation with public libraries throughout New Jersey.

• The 5th Annual Trustee Institute was held Sept. 28-20 at Ocean Place in Long Branch. Over 200 trustees attended programs that followed this year’s theme of the Library as the Third Place, or as the keynote speaker referred to it, the “great good place”. As has been the case with our prior year programs, the State Library partnered with the NJ Library Association and the NJ Library Trustee Association on this popular event.

• The first meeting of the State Librarian’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on the Future of Libraries took place in September. The task force will meet once a month for four months, discussing one topic each month. The Task Force will produce a report to the State Librarian on the possibilities and opportunities it identifies to keep libraries relevant for customers now and in the future.

• NJKI Advocacy took center stage in September as many LDB staff were involved in a variety of activities including: planning a meeting regarding the continued funding of NJKI in FY08; reporting on the status of NJKI to library, business and legislative partners; preparation of advocacy documents for use by NJKI customers; meetings to present the case for NJKI to state legislators and staff; and continued participation in events designed to market and showcase this program.

• LDB’s youth services consultant was a guest on A.M. Connections discussing good books for parents and caregivers to share with their children.

• The New Jersey State Library is partnering with New Jersey Library Association, Monmouth County Library and the Women’s National Book Association to promote National Reading Group Month. Two authors will be appearing at the Monmouth County Library to celebrate the event. The State Library has distributed letters to state librarians throughout the country encouraging them to lend their support next year.

• The New Jersey State Library was a sponsor at the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce Conference and Expo where we continued to gain new NJKI users and advocates. The NJKI marketing consultant presented a workshop.

• Our marketing director presented a workshop entitled, “Six steps to Outreach Success”. NJSL and the South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative sponsored the workshop, which was held at the Willingboro Public Library.

• The Marketing Dept. had three different articles published in their entirety in Interface, the newsletter of the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA). The articles highlighted the broad array of the State Library’s work. One featured a Braille literacy arts event staged by LBH at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton Twp. while another focused on the Get a Library on Online program. A third article gave an overview of three NJSL marketing campaigns: Three Reasons, Super Librarian Comic Book and YouTube comic contest.