February 22, 2021
Hello all,
This update is FULL of important information, so please take the time to read through it carefully.
WELCOME
Keith Kaffenberger is officially on the job. Today, February 22, begins his onboarding, and we are very excited to have him as part of the team. Drop him a welcome email if you get the chance. His email address is kkaffenberger[AT]library[DOT]in[DOT]gov.
Evergreen Indiana Annual Meeting
The Evergreen Indiana Executive Committee voted on February 9 to separate the Annual Meeting from the Annual Conference with the hopes that the conference can be held in person in late summer/early autumn of 2021. The Annual Meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 30, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. via Zoom. Registration for this event will be available soon. At this hour-long meeting, the State of Evergreen Indiana report will be given along with the announcement of the slate of candidates for the 2021 committee elections.
2021 Committee Elections
Several committee spots will be opening up, and Evergreen Indiana is soliciting nominations for candidates. For the Executive Committee, elections will be held for 3 members with each representing Class A, B, and C libraries respectively. For the Patron Services committee, elections for 5 members will be held representing all three library classes. You are also welcome to express your interest in joining either the Cataloging Committee or eContent Committee. More information about all of these committees is available here.
Nominations Accepted through March 15. Self nominations are both accepted and encouraged.
https://forms.gle/Kauu1a2sT7SkqTc69
Evergreen International Conference Scholarships
The 2021 Evergreen International Conference will be online again this year, May 24 – 27. You can find out more about it here. Because of the lower registration cost and absence of costs associated with travel and lodging, Evergreen Indiana is hopeful that many of you will be able to attend and participate. To further promote participation, scholarships are being offered to cover the cost of registration. You can apply for a scholarship at the link in this section. Applications are being accepted until March 31.
https://forms.gle/tzTbDFyhtXEE4epu5
Online Book Club
A suggested reading schedule for the March-May book club selection, The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis, has been posted. You can view this topic and more at https://evergreenlibrary.pbc.guru. This online book club is available to all patrons of Evergreen Indiana member libraries with simultaneous-use, digital copies of the chosen titles provided through Freading. There have been a few issues related to the downloading of these free books, and I would encourage all staff who interact with patrons to take a look at this topic related to the process for downloading. Libraries are encouraged to add links to the book club on your website. It is also worth noting that you patrons do not HAVE to use the provided ebooks to participate in the forum discussions. There are currently several physical copies of both book and audiobook in the Evergreen Indiana consortium.
Reference Solutions
Please note that Reference USA is now called Reference Solutions. If you include a link to this resource on your website, please update the name and consider using the logo that I have attached to this email. Thank you to everyone who has already updated their website with this information. For anyone needing additional support, from how to add the URL and logo with suggested description, to scheduling staff or community training using the database, please contact Andra Roussel (andraDOTrousselATdata-axleDOTcom)
Consortial Collection Weeded
It finally happened! There was enough time in a couple days to run the reports, do the evaluation, and weed the consortial transiting collection. Now, we are making these items available to your libraries. These are on a first-come-first-served basis. Please fill out the linked form if you are interested in any of these materials.
https://forms.gle/CY122brgaxoJ5Vzg7
New Server
Evergreen Indiana will be deploying a new server within the next couple weeks. When this occurs, the entire Evergreen Indiana system will be down for 1-2 days. More information will be forthcoming about the exact date(s) and times for this planned maintenance. The new server will replace one of the oldest and most heavily used machines in our “workshop,” and we are optimistic that it will address many of the recent performance issues.
An Etiquette Reminder
Please be very conscientious about placing staff holds on materials from other Evergreen Indiana related to such things as current events topics or award winners for use in programs (storytimes, book clubs, etc.) or displays. While it is the responsibility of an owning library to “protect” those items that it doesn’t want circulating beyond its system for a time, it is also the responsibility of all staff to adhere to the normal transit, check out, and renewal procedures when using materials from other member libraries. Please refrain from overriding renewal limits or extending due dates for such items. If you are doing a program that might require some extraordinary loan durations, please be courteous and take the time to coordinate with the owning library.
Have a great day/week/month/whatever_we’re_calling_time_now. If you have any questions/comments/etc., don’t hesitate to email me directly or give me a call.