New Mexico State Library

For Immediate Release
Tue, 02/14/2012 - 14:33

Contact: Jennifer Habley
AASL

CHICAGO – The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has released an updated position statement on the role of the school library program.  Approved by the AASL Board of Directors at the ALA 2012 Midwinter Meeting, the statement can be viewed on the AASL website at www.ala.org/aasl/positionstatements.

The statement stresses the crucial role the school library program plays in preparing students to become active, contributing members of the 21st century.  The statement not only looks at the role of the library program, but the role of the school librarian as an instructional partner, thus integrating the concepts set forth by AASL’s learning standards and program guidelines. 

The American Association of School Librarians, www.aasl.org, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), promotes the improvement and extension of library services in elementary and secondary schools as a means of strengthening the total education program. Its mission is to advocate excellence, facilitate change and develop leaders in the school library field.

February 10, 2012 By Michael Kelley

Print and ebooks go hand in hand for active library users, and publishers should take note

A new report from LJ indicates that it is vital for libraries to connect with digital patrons, especially ebook readers, and satisfying their expectations has a meaningful upside for both the library users and the publishing community.

The report, “Mobile Devices, Mobile Content, and Library Apps,” a part of LJ’s ongoing Patron Profiles series, points out that even though digital users—defined as a patron who uses a smartphone, ereader, or tablet—remain a minority, they are, nonetheless, more active than the general patron not only in digital services but also “in virtually every metric of library activity.” As such, they could guide librarians in understanding the intersection of their print holdings and their growing digital collections.

"What we are trying to do with Patron Profiles is to help librarians better understand their patrons as consumers of media, or content, and how patrons are using libraries as content providers, particularly digital content,” said Ian Singer, VP and group publisher for LJ, School Library Journal, and The Horn Book. “The preferences and behaviors we are finding are key to helping libraries keep pace with the overarching trends in digital consumption and technologies that enable both reading and discovery of content,” he said.

LJ surveyed 2,155 library patrons in conjunction with Bowker PubTrack Consumer, and the results were analyzed by Steve Paxhia and John Parsons, who also prepared the highly regarded November 2011 ebook study from the Book Industry Study Group.

Read the entire article here:

http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/02/research/what-patrons-teach-us-and-publishers-should-learn/

DUBLIN, Ohio, USA, 14 February 2012—The Website for Small Libraries project, which began as an OCLC Innovation Lab experiment in 2011, is now available as a beta service for any library wishing to set up its own website.

By participating in the project, libraries will be able to quickly and easily set up a website that provides basic functionality for making small collection information available on the Web, setting up users, checking materials in and out, placing holds, and providing library contact, location, service and event information.

"The goal of the Website for Small Libraries project was easily stated, but not so easily realized," said Mike Teets, OCLC Vice President, Innovation. “We wanted small libraries with collections of 20,000 items or less to be able to have a simple, inexpensive yet functional presence on the Web."

Four South Dakota libraries, as well as the South Dakota State Library, were part of the project’s pilot. "Many of our libraries have a staff of just one or two, and small budgets," said Dan Siebersma, South Dakota State Librarian. "A product that makes it easy for these libraries to have a website with a minimum amount of effort and at a low cost is very desirable. The inventory feature that would allow people to access a library’s collection from the comfort of their home is the icing on the cake."

In order to make the site as easy to use as possible, the site relies on simple editing of predefined templates to populate the Web presence. It can take just a few minutes to have a library site up and available to patrons on the Web, as well as on mobile and tablet devices. The service uses a set of wizards to import collection and user information in a wide variety of formats. It uses statistical algorithms and WorldCat to determine structure and field contents to ease the import processes. Complexity is kept to a minimum by focusing on the minimum fields necessary to make collections accessible.

Read the entire article here: http://www.oclc.org/news/releases/2012/201211.htm

Updated: 2/13/2012

Federal Programs Manager (Staff Manager, #4835)

Closing Date: March 10, 2012

For directions on how to apply, see the New Mexico State Personnel Office. To view a complete description of this position CLICK HERE or you may also type key words "Federal Programs Manager" in the search box.  In addition to applying, please email resume with cover letter to Joy Poole, Deputy State Librarian. If you experience problems in obtaining this information, please contact Angela Soliz, Human Resources Officer at (505) 476-9783.

Tribal Libraries Coordinator (Librarian - Advanced)

Closing Date: March 1, 2012

For directions on how to apply, see the New Mexico State Personnel Office. To view a complete description of this position CLICK HERE or you may also type key word "Librarian" in the search box. In addition to applying, please email resume with cover letter to Devon I. Skeele, State Librarian. If you experience problems in obtaining this information, please contact Angela Soliz, Human Resources Officer at (505) 476-9783.

Thomas Branigan Memorial Library - Las Cruces

The Thomas Branigan Memorial Library has a Librarian position available. Please visit the City of Las Cruces website to apply.

Job closing date will be February 13, 2012.

Alamogordo Public Library - Alamogordo

Reference Librarian (2 positions)

Click here for the job description. And here for the City website.

Santa Fe Public Library - Santa Fe

The Santa Fe Public Library will have 5 librarian positions open in February. They include InterLibrary Loan (part-time), general reference at branches and Main. All librarians work reference desks plus have duties in specialized areas including periodicals; public relations/press; web librarian; and collection development.

Please watch the City of Santa Fe website's employment page for postings. The Library does not accept applications or resumes; interested librarians must go through the City's HR department.